Updated: EMC to chop 2400 staff

EMC will slash 2400 staff from its global workforce as part of a restructure of its Information Infrastructure business. The storage vendor is the latest in a long line of multinationals culling employees in bid to counteract the economic downturn.

The restructuring program will include back-office and premises consolidation, a rebalance of investments towards higher-growth products and markets, cutbacks to contractor spending. Most significantly, the vendor will also reduce its non-US international headcount by 2400, or 7 per cent. Cuts will mostly come out of management, it stated.

EMC senior communications manager, Asia-Pacific and Japan, Abhrajit Bhattacharjee, said it was not disclosing country-based figures.

“This will see reductions in all areas of EMC’s business and geographies, but this is not a single across-the-board reduction,” he said. “Our goal is to position EMC in Australia for continued success throughout the downturn and for even greater success during the next economic growth cycle.”

The changes will see EMC incur a $US248 million pre-tax hit in the last quarter of 2008 and cost a further $100-$125 million across the next two years. However, the company expects to reduce its operating bills by $US350 million this year, increasing to $US500 million in 2010.

“We managed our costs and investments very carefully throughout 2008,” chairman, president and CEO, Joe Tucci, said in a statement. “However, we believe this additional program will help us strike the right balance between achieving higher levels of efficiency and sustaining strong business agility and performance.”

EMC is just one in the long list of multinational vendors slashing into staff numbers in a bid to gain more cost efficiencies. Earlier this week, Logitech announced it would cut 15 per cent of its global workforce, blaming the weaker retail environment for slower sales and income. Sony is also axing 8000 staff and reduce investments by one-third to counteract the downturn, while Adobe is planning to shed 600 including Australia.

Alongside the restructure, EMC also announced fourth-quarter revenues would hit a record $US4 billion, representing 4 per cent year-on-year growth.

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