Sacramento-based consulting and staffing firm Clutch, which was ranked No. 1 on the Business Journal’s list of fastest-growing companies this year, laid off a dozen workers last month as part of a reorganization.

Clutch communications officer Christine Mahon confirmed to the Business Journal that the layoffs took place in November and affected 12 employees.

In an emailed statement, Mahon said the layoffs were a part of Clutch’s growth strategy around offering defined solutions to public- and private-sector clients.

“To support that strategy, we determined the need to accelerate areas of the business that support revenue growth and reduce costs in other areas,” Mahon said. “Decisions were made to decrease spending and staffing in areas of the business that, functionally, did not strongly correlate to our growth plan.”

Mahon said the layoffs affected less than 8% of the company’s total workforce, and that those employees were offered outplacement services to help them find new work.

Clutch was founded in 2019 by Rachel Zillner and Anne Descalzo, two former executives with SAFE Credit Union. Clutch offers business consulting and contract staffing to businesses and government agencies. Its four main areas for contract staffing are call centers, administrative, infrastructure and events or meetings.

At the beginning of this year, Clutch had nearly 200 employees. It was ranked as the Business Journal’s fastest-growing company this year, after increasing revenue from nearly $340,000 in 2020 to $15.2 million at the end of last year.

Last month, it was awarded an $11.6 million tax credit from the California Competes program as an incentive to keep growing locally, instead of out of state. Under that agreement, the company has agreed to invest in more office space and hire more than 400 more workers over the next four years, as part of an expansion in Sacramento that will culminate in a $15 million investment in the region.

Clutch will have to prove to the state that it is meeting annual milestones to increase its in-state employee headcount in order to get the tax credits.