Autodesk lays off dozens in Bay Area

Dozens of San Francisco employees of Autodesk were laid off Friday, in line with the company’s previously announced plans to cut 13 percent of its workforce.

The software company, which is based in San Rafael, confirmed that 108 employees at its San Francisco offices and 49 Marin County employees were let go amid a restructuring plan.

“We took the restructuring action from a position of strength after several quarters of consistent performance,” the company said Friday. “Restructuring will allow us to shift resources towards our priorities of completing Autodesk’s transition to subscription, accelerating the digitization of our business processes, and re-imagining manufacturing, construction and production.”

Autodesk makes 3-D imaging software for architects, engineers and people in the construction and media industries. The company formed in 1982 and has about 9,000 employees. Before the layoffs, around 2,000 employees were working in its San Francisco and San Rafael offices.

Autodesk had announced plans to lay off 1,150 employees in late November, after releasing third-quarter earnings. CEO Andrew Anagnost said in an earnings statement at the time that he is pleased with the company’s third-quarter results, adding that the restructuring is not a “cost reduction activity.”

Autodesk reported that sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2018 rose 5 percent over the same period a year ago. It will report fourth-quarter earnings on March 6.

Along with staff cuts, the company is transitioning from perpetual software licenses to software subscriptions and cloud computing services. It is also forming more flexible license agreements.