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Friday, November 14, 2008

Sun Microsystems Announces Up to 6,000 Job Cuts

By Joanna Ossinger

FOXBusiness

Sun Microsystems (JAVA) said Friday that it plans to cut between 5,000 and 6,000 jobs as it tries to cut costs to deal with the suffering global economy.

The layoffs would represent 15% to 18% of the company’s work force, and Sun said it expects to incur charges of $500 million to $600 million over the next 12 months in connection with the plan.

The layoffs are part of a bigger restructuring plan that the company hopes will save it $700 million to $800 million annually.

The plan includes steps meant to accelerate open-source software innovations and streamline the company’s operations in order to facilitate growth, Sun said in a press release.

The release also said that Rich Green, Sun’s executive vice president of software, has chosen to leave. “Green has been an instrumental force in evolving Sun's Software strategy and successful business execution across its diverse portfolio,” the release said.

Jonathan Schwartz, Sun’s CEO told the Associated Press that the company has been hit hard by the credit crunch because customers haven’t been able to get loans to buy expensive servers.

In morning trading Friday, Sun’s shares were nearly even, down one penny at $4.07.

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