US internet giant Sun Microsystems is planning to cut 9% of its workforce - roughly 3,900 jobs - as revenue slumps amid uncertainty after the US terrorist attacks.
Sun has an Irish workforce of 275 in a software development centre in Dublin. A spokesman for the company told OnBusiness that while it was too early for clarity on where the cuts would fall, he said he expected them to have a minimal impact on the company's Dublin operations.
Sun, which is a major provider of network hardware, software and services, said it expected revenue to fall to $2.7 billion to $2.9 billion in the July-September period. Analysts had predicted the company would post $3.8 billion in sales for the coming quarterly report. The company brought in $3.995 billion in the previous three months.
'Sun is announcing a programme to reduce its workforce by approximately 9% as well as consolidate excess facilities,' it said in a statement. The figure translates to 3,888 of its 43,200 employees.
The company said it expected to incur a charge of about $500 million in the October-December period because of the job cuts.
'Sun's position as a leading provider of Internet and network infrastructure is stronger than ever, but the current economic environment is obviously very difficult,' Sun chairman and chief executive Scott McNealy said in the statement.
'The computer industry is continuing to consolidate and downsize itself,' he added.
'In addition, the events of September 11 have impacted us all. Things were tough with the economy before, but now we are facing increasing uncertainties both in the US and globally. To ensure the long term health of the business, we are making structural changes to the capacity of our company,' he said.
* Semiconductor maker Advanced Micro Devices today said its third quarter sales fell more than expected from the second quarter, as 'very aggressive competition' pushed average selling prices for computer processors down sharply. AMD has been locked in a price war with Intel.
