US technology giant Sun Microsystems said it was cutting its global workforce by 11% after announcing a quarterly loss of $111 million.
Sun has an Irish workforce of 240 and a spokesman said it was unclear what impact - if any - the job cuts would have on its Irish operations.
'Sun plans to reduce its workforce by approximately 11% from its first quarter fiscal year 2003 and consolidate and eliminate excess space,' the computer network company said in a statement in the US. The company did not provide an exact figure, but the cuts were likely to involve about 4,200 jobs out of the workforce of over 39,000.
The company plans to take a one-off charge of around $300 million in its second quarter relating to the job cuts and the consolidation and elimination of excess space, it said.
Sales at the networking giant slumped 4% to $2.747 billion from $2.861 billion a year earlier. Excluding extraordinary items, Sun lost two cents per share for the first quarter as its loss narrowed from $180 million in the same period a year ago.
Sun has 'done an outstanding job in maintaining fiscal discipline but it hasn't been enough to counterbalance revenue shortfalls caused by the protracted economic downturn,' said Steve McGowan, Sun's chief financial officer.
'We believe the actions announced today are necessary to return Sun to profitability and are in the best interest of our long-term stakeholders,' he added.
Sun chairman and CEO Scott McNealy said that despite 'the challenging economic environment,' the company continues to broaden its 'industry footprint' and win customers in new markets such as life sciences, healthcare and retail.
'At the same time, we are protecting our investments in research and development, aggressively managing cash balances, and gaining market share from competitors,' McNealy added.
