Five employees at MDUResources Inc. headquarters in Bismarck officially lost their jobs on Thursday, management said.

The company had previously announced the possibility of cuts after an evaluation of the headquarters' about 180-person work force showed some job duplication.

Rick Matteson, director of communications and public relations, said nine other jobs and employees were transferred to other business units, and two employees whose jobs had been duplicated offered to take early retirement.

Seven positions that had been vacant for a while also will not be filled, Matteson said.

Benefits packages include a combination of severance pay tied to the number of years worked at MDU Resources, as well as several months of ongoing insurance and some outplacement assistance.

Matteson said the five employees were a mix of long-term and younger employees; all were informed through conversations with management.

"We know it's a difficult time for them,"Matteson said. "We're trying to treat them as fairly as we can."