Sun Microsystems is to cut 11 per cent of its workforce around the world to bring its expenses in line with sales, despite posting first-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations.
The computer and software maker will cut 4,400 of its 39,400 employees in a move that has been expected because corporate technology spending has not rebounded as expected.
Sun employs 240 people in the Republic and it remains unclear what impact the job cuts will have on Irish operations.
It is the second major round of cuts at Sun, which a year ago cut nearly 3,900 jobs after holding out longer than other high-tech companies to make staff reductions.
Mr Scott McNealy, Sun's chief executive, said he was slow to cut jobs because of the difficulty in replacing talent once the economy rebounds. Such a quick recovery is now seen as unlikely.
The latest round of cuts will affect employees around the world but the company declined to say how its various divisions would be affected individually.
For the three months that ended on September 29th, Sun lost $111 million, or four cents per share, compared with a loss of $180 million, or six cents per share, in the same period last year.
Excluding special items, the company lost $78 million, or two cents a share, compared with $158 million, or five cents per share at the same time last year. Analysts were expecting a loss of four cents per share on sales of $2.87 billion, according to a survey by Thomson First Call.
First-quarter sales were $2.75 billion, down four per cent from the $2.86 billion posted in the same period last year
AP