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14 November 2008, 16:25

Sun sheds up to 6000 jobs

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Server, Unix and Java specialist Sun Microsystems has reacted to the adverse economic climate by announcing a massive reduction in its workforce. A company press release says that 5,000 to 6,000 staff are to be laid off - the equivalent of 15 to 18 per cent of the workforce. Sun expects to incur total charges of up to $600 million in the next twelve months for the job cuts, which are aimed at reducing costs by approximately $800 million annually. The company had previously announced plans to shed 2500 jobs when it presented its third quarter figures in May.

CEO Jonathan Schwartz also announced a restructuring plan for the business groups, saying that the company needed to align its business with global economic realities. Sun will create a new business group known as "Application Platform Software", which will deal with software products including Java, MySQL and the GlassFish application server as well as server and identity management applications. Anil Gadre will move from his position as Chief Marketing Officer to lead the newly formed group. The teams responsible for Solaris, Virtualisation and Systems Management will join the Systems group, which was formed in May 2006 when the server business units were amalgamated under the leadership of John Fowler.

According to the press release, Product and technology marketing will now be integrated directly into the product groups under Peter Ryan. Corporate marketing will be led by Ingrid Van Den Hoogen. As already announced in August, Sun is setting up an enterprise-wide department known as Cloud Computing & Developer Platforms to respond to the increasing demand for web-based cloud services.

Sun claims that new organisational alignment is "a recognition of the comprehensive role software plays in the company's growth strategy". Rich Green, Executive Vice President of Software, has chosen to leave the company. The press release does not give the reason for his departure.

(djwm)

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