layoffs

Microsoft layoffs hit several products

In the wake of additional layoffs on Tuesday, Microsoft is scaling back--but not totally eliminating--several products. After cutting 1,400 jobs in January, Microsoft said on Tuesday that it is cutting more than 3,000 more jobs.

Among those products affected are Microsoft's ResponsePoint phone system, its .Net Micro Framework, and its MSN Direct Service.

Microsoft said it will continue to sell and support the initial version of ResponsePoint, which is aimed at small businesses.

"We will also continue to promote the product online and spotlight compatible 3rd party services and add-on products," Microsoft said in a … Read more

Ballmer on Microsoft's new layoffs notices

In the wake of handing out 3,000 layoff notices Tuesday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer sent an e-mail to staff.

Ballmer characterized the cuts as the second phase of the plan announced in January. At the time, Microsoft said it would cut 5,000 jobs over an 18-month-period. With the cuts made in January and those announced on Tuesday, Microsoft has now nearly eliminated all those positions.

Here is the text of Ballmer's e-mail, which was seen by CNET News.

From: Steve Ballmer Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 To: Microsoft - All Employees Subject: Update: Realigning Resources and Reducing … Read more

Microsoft sends second wave of layoff notices to 3,000

Microsoft on Tuesday notified more than 3,000 workers that it was eliminating their jobs.

The software maker said in January that it would cut up to 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months. It made 1,400 cuts at the time. With the second wave of notifications on Tuesday, Microsoft has cut nearly all 5,000 jobs already.

Although it didn't announce further layoffs, the fact that the company has already made nearly all the reductions under the January plan means further job actions will have to come under a new round of cuts. In a memo to Microsoft workers, … Read more

Analysis firm IDC cuts 5 percent of staff

Market research firm IDC on Friday said it is cutting 82 workers in the United States, or 5 percent of its worldwide staff "due to the impact of the economic recession."

The Framingham, Mass.-based company said that the cuts include 26 research analysts.

"IDC will continue to have more than 1,000 research analysts worldwide which is more than any other technology market intelligence and advisory company," IDC said in a statement. The firm added that it still has more analysts than it did a year ago, noting that it hired 50 new analysts in … Read more

Sony Ericsson to lay off 2,000 more workers

Sony Ericsson plans to lay off a further 2,000 employees in the wake of deeper quarterly financial losses.

The staff cuts, announced on Friday, add to the 2,000 cuts the handset maker outlined in July. They came the same day that Sony Ericsson reported its first-quarter earnings results, which showed that the company had a pretax loss of 358 million euros ($467 million) for the first three months of 2009. The company's earnings slipped into the red in the third quarter of 2008, and its losses have deepened ever since.

"As expected, the first quarter of … Read more

Report: More layoffs coming to Yahoo

Updated 7:55 a.m. PDT with a detail about selling HotJobs.

Yahoo is rumored to be planning to announce more layoffs next week, its third round of cuts in a little more than a year, according to a report Tuesday in The New York Times.

The layoffs could affect hundreds of employees and could be announced as early as April 21 when the embattled search pioneer announces its first-quarter financial results, according to the report.

Yahoo representatives declined to comment on the report.

The report also said Yahoo has been trying to sell off its HotJobs job listing classified-ad … Read more

Microsoft pulls plug on campus bar

With the economy in the tank, Microsoft has decided not to let its workers follow. The software maker has confirmed it has canceled plans to have a bar as part of an expansion of its Redmond campus.

The pub, which had been planned for more than a year, was to be part of a collection of restaurants and stores that were due to open next week as part of the company's new headquarters for its Entertainment and Devices unit. Spokesman Lou Gellos confirmed the company recently decided to pull the plug.

"We had to take another look at … Read more

Motorola sets Q1 charges at $229 million

Motorola announced plans Monday to record $229 million in charges related to layoffs during the first quarter.

In a filing with the SEC, Motorola said that it will have cut 5,600 employees in the first quarter, completing the 7,000 layoffs it has announced since October of 2008. In exchange for letting those employees go, Motorola will have to pay them $216 million as well as record an additional $13 million in charges related to the exit of certain businesses.

Motorola has a goal for reducing its 2009 annual costs by $1.5 billion. The company's handset division … Read more

Wired.com lays off 12 percent of staff

For the second time in five months, Wired.com, the Internet arm of Wired magazine, has trimmed its staff.

According to a Twitter post from Evan Hansen, the Web site's editor in chief, the company laid off 3 out of 25 full-time staffers or 12 percent of its workforce.

"Reports of Wired.com 'gutting' greatly exaggerated," Hansen wrote on Twitter, presumably referring to published reports about Wired.com's layoffs. "We cut three staff, five contractors, (and) still have 45 people working for us overall."

Among those who lost their jobs was Eliot Van Buskirk, … Read more