Major restructuring sees VMware closing, letting go of 100 workers

BURLINGTON — Nearly 100 employees at VMware Canada are losing their jobs as the company closes its Burlington technical support office as part of worldwide layoffs across the firm.

A company spokesperson would not confirm the company move. But Edward Woods, a Hamilton lawyer representing 14 of the employees, says the workers were told Monday the operation on In- ternational Boulevard, near Appleby Line and Highway 403, was closing immediately.

The company let 98 onsite employees go, but 45 offsite people have the option of working from home or taking a package, he said.

“The employees of the centre walked in today and essentially they walked right back out. They had no idea this was going to happen today.”

Company spokesperson Cindy Watson said, “We are unable to comment at this time.”

One worker, who asked his name not be used because he was still in negotiations over severance, said he expected the news because the company had been struggling.

“I figured it was coming for awhile because of global cutbacks and stock prices going down,” he said.

Woods said he was still awaiting details, but he believes employees were paid between $30,000 to a $200,000 and “it will be an undue hardship on a lot of them.”

“To find similar work will be very difficult for them.”

Former employee Tristan Bolton of Waterloo — who was laid off a year ago — says the Burlington operation opened about 10 years ago and had 250 people at its peak, but had been steadily downsizing over the past few years.

The operation in Burlington primarily deals in technical support for the company’s cloud and virtualization software. VMware is based in Palo Alto, Calif., and was acquired in 2004 by EMC. Bloomberg Business reported Friday that the company this week would be slashing 900 jobs around the world as part of a major restructuring plan. The job cuts would represent about five per cent of VMware’s workforce of 18,000. The article said the company is suffering from share declines, weaker bookings and jitters about the ongoing acquisition of its parent company by Dell Inc.