Sun to Sack 3,000
by John Paczkowski
Posted on October 20, 2009 at 2:01 PM PT
“I understand the European Union has a job to do, but the longer this takes, the more money Sun is going to lose and that’s not good. We want to get it done to save as many jobs as we can.”
The end of Sun Microsystems as an independent company after 27 years is to be prefaced with a bloodletting. And a big one too. The company is sacking some 3,000 employees as it awaits the closing of Oracle’s (ORCL) planned $7.4 billion takeover.
That’s about 10 percent of its workforce.
The cuts, which were disclosed in a regulatory filing today, are to occur in all markets in which Sun (JAVA) has a presence and will be completed over the next 12 months. Sun expects to incur cash severance and other charges of $75 million to $125 million over the next several quarters as a result.
Seems Oracle CEO Larry Ellison wasn’t kidding when he said further delays in approving his company’s deal to buy Sun would cost more people their jobs.
Ugly news for Sun, which has already made sweeping job cuts over the past year, releasing some 6,000 employees into the wild since last November.
Oracle and Sun have not yet responded to requests for comment.
UPDATE: Oracle has declined to comment on the layoffs at Sun.
