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Friday, November 14, 2008

Economy Sun Microsystems to Cut Up to 6000 Jobs

Posted by Grant Brissey on Fri, Nov 14, 2008 at 9:59 AM

Sun Microsystems, multinational vendor of computers, computer components, computer software, and information technology services, announced it will cut up to 6,000 jobs due to the financial slowdown.

Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) — Sun Microsystems Inc. plans to cut as many as 6,000 jobs as the company tries to cope with plunging sales of server computers to financial firms, market-share losses to bigger competitors and a spiraling stock price.

The reduction, which will eliminate as much as 18 percent of the staff, will shave $700 million to $800 million from annual expenses, Sun said today in an e-mailed statement. The moves will cost as much as $600 million in the next 12 months.

The Santa Clara, California-based company is cutting back to cope with the “global economic realities,” Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Schwartz said. Sun, the fourth-largest server maker, last month posted its second loss in three quarters and said its financial-services customers were curbing orders until they have more liquidity.

“We see the level of concern spreading around the world,” Schwartz said in a telephone interview. “Customers are saying, ‘I am in pain, and I need budget relief.’”

Via Bloomberg

Comments (11) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

Oracle is next.

Posted by Bellevue Ave on November 14, 2008 at 10:07 AM

Sun's still around?

Posted by Scott McNealy's A Punk on November 14, 2008 at 10:08 AM

@2 do you live under a rock?

Posted by Bellevue Ave on November 14, 2008 at 10:10 AM

yeah, due to the "financial slowdown." it has nothing to do with their business model. change or die.

Posted by egg on November 14, 2008 at 10:36 AM

@2 do you live under a rock?

Bellevue Ave's still around?

Posted by Bellevue Ave Is Scott McNealy's Punk on November 14, 2008 at 10:38 AM

@1 - ignore the slacker @5 - I doubt Oracle's next, but would not be surprised if another big DBMS firm goes down soon. Oracle has billions in cash ... and they run on Linux.

Posted by Will in Seattle on November 14, 2008 at 11:01 AM

One wonders how Sybase has lasted this long.

Posted by cinenaut on November 14, 2008 at 11:07 AM

Sun is the GM of the technology sector, this is about a weak company that can't handle the downturn. Don't expect big layoffs from Microsoft, Google, Oracle to follow.

Posted by bob on November 14, 2008 at 11:20 AM

Oracle is going to lay off part of their sales force because they can't sell anything in this environment. Companies are scaling back their purchases right now. I know two people that deal directly with the sales departments there.

Posted by Bellevue Ave on November 14, 2008 at 11:32 AM

@9 name names asshole, or STFU.

Posted by egg on November 14, 2008 at 12:05 PM

Sun and Oracle both have sold in markets that could be served with much cheaper solutions. Too many nitwit managers think that they have to buy expensive shit to justify their buzzword-spewing ignorance. Oracle sucks, but will survive because in many cases they are almost irreplaceable.

Sun is gilt-edged toilet paper. Hasta la vista, baby!

Posted by Karlheinz Arschbomber on November 14, 2008 at 12:28 PM