Unisys made its Australian and New Zealand managing director David Barnes redundant six months ago only months after hiring him, ZDNet Asia's sister site, ZDNet Australia can reveal.
Barnes left the company about six months ago, according to a spokesperson for the company, which puts his tenure at about four months. Previously, he was SAP's chief operating officer for Europe, Middle East and Africa. He was appointed to the role at the end of September last year to replace Steve Parker.
His departure was a result of the company's restructuring process started in December last year to shave costs from the business. The restructure was set to cull 1300 people from the company.
Unisys had reorganized its activities by business unit, which had led to the removal of Barne's position according to the spokesperson. Andrew Barkla, the VP and general manager of Unisys Asia Pacific, now heads up Australia and New Zealand in addition to his regional role.
The spokesperson pointed out that the company's last quarterly results, released last week, had shown that the cost cutting measures had been successful. The company moved from a net loss of AUD$14 million (US$11.8 million) to a net income of AUD$38 million (US$32 million) when comparing the second quarter of 2008 and 2009.
"We made encouraging progress during the quarter on the priorities of our turnaround program," Unisys chairman and CEO Ed Coleman said in a statement. "This progress was driven by our ongoing actions to concentrate our resources more effectively and reduce our cost base."
Unisys isn't the only company to make redundant the leader of its Australian division during the global economic climate; the same fate befell local Nortel chief Mark Stevens in January this year.
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