Sun Microsystems to lay off 6,000 staff
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Distressed systems vendor to axe roughly 18% of its workforce
In the latest staggering batch of redundancies in the technology sector, Sun Microsystems has announced that it is to cut between 5,000 and 6,000 jobs – around 18% of its workforce – over the next year.
The cuts will save an estimated $750 million a year, the company said, but will cost it between $500 million and $600 in the coming 12 months.
The company also announced some radical restructuring. Sun’s software division will be split into three units; one for programming languages and databases, one for its Solaris operating system and the third for ‘cloud computing’ systems. The head of its current software division Rich Green has resigned.
The announcement comes shortly after Sun revealed the $1.7 billion loss it made in its most recent financial quarter. The company’s share price currently places its total market capitalisation under the amount it holds in cash.
Read the Sun Microsystems statement here.
Further reading
Sun posts $1.7 billion loss
Sun quashes rumours of co-founder's resignation
Sun reveals the secrets of 'commercial open source' How the systems and hardware vendor aims to make money from 'free' software
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