PeopleSoft plans to cut 200 jobs worldwide and close its Santa Clara, California, office in response to bad economic times. Only internal administrative and support functions were likely to be cut, sparing customers from any negative effects of the "cost measures", a PeopleSoft spokesman, Steve Swasey, said. "We are not anticipating research and development, consulting or sales headcount reductions," he said. "The focus will be as it always is, on customer satisfaction and customer growth." PeopleSoft expects to take a $US12 million charge in the second quarter for this restructuring, one of the first large cost-cutting actions by the software maker at a time in which many vendors are tightening their belts amid lower corporate spending on IT. PeopleSoft employed 8180 people worldwide as of March 31, compared with 8293 at the end of 2002. The company recently reported net income for the first quarter of 2003 of $US38.5 million, down from $US44.5 million in the same period last year. Revenue dropped to $US460.3 million from $US483.3 million. License fees took a big hit, tumbling to $US80.8 million in the first three months of 2003 from $US133.3 million in the first quarter of last year. Maintenance and professional services revenue was up, evening out the overall revenue picture.
