Symantec to chop 177 jobs in Bay Area
$100M restructuring program includes 7% reduction, closures
MOUNTAIN VIEW » Symantec is cutting scores of jobs in the Bay Area, including in Silicon Valley, the tech titan revealed in official filings with state labor officials.
The company had warned that job cuts could be on the horizon, but new state government filings obtained Thursday by this news organization provide some details about the staffing reductions.
Mountain View- based Symantec indicated in separate disclosures with the state Employment Development Department that it had decided to eliminate 177 jobs in the Bay Area starting in mid-August, with the vast majority of the reductions scheduled to be completed by Oct. 15.
“As part of our plan we developed over the last couple of months, we have announced a $100 million restructuring program aimed at improving productivity and reducing complexity in the way we manage the business,” Vincent Pilette, Symantec’s chief financial officer, said during a conference call with analysts on Aug. 9.
The staffing reductions included 160
positions in Mountain View and another 17 in San Francisco, the notices to the EDD and government officials in the two cities stated.
An estimated 153 of the job cuts were scheduled to occur by Oct. 15 in Mountain View, the WARN notices stated.
Symantec provides security software that protects companies and consumers against viruses, detects attempted intrusions, reduces spam and filters unwanted content.
Symantec said in August that the staffing reductions were part of an overall cost- cutting effort by the company.
“This plan includes a 7 percent reduction of headcount and closures of certain sites,” Pilette said during the conference call. “We expect the majority of these actions which we have already started today to be done by the third quarter.”
Dozens of different job classifications were involved in the cuts. However, the types of jobs that were being eliminated by Symantec were primarily related to tech work.
Among the frequently listed categories of jobs that were being eliminated were software engineer and software development engineer, the EDD filings indicated. Midd le - management jobs were also were being eliminated.
“Layoffs are expected to be permanent,” Symantec stated in the letters to the EDD and city officials. “None of the affected employees are represented by a union, and no bumping rights exist.”