Yesterday, the maker of networking equipment for telcos, Internet service providers and consumers said that it will be cutting 1,200 or 10 percent of its worldwide workforce to save cost.
Speaking to Singapore.CNET.com, a 3Com Asia Pacific spokesperson confirmed that the reduction has affected all geographies and product lines, which includes modems, PC cards, wireless Local Area Network (LAN), routers, switches, hubs, Internet appliances and network management software for home and office use.
However, the layoffs did not impact all countries (in Asia Pacific), she said, declining to reveal the exact number of employees who lost their jobs.
3Com has already served a month's notice to the employees, she added. "The impact on the region is minimal," the spokesperson claimed.
At present, 3Com employs about 1,200 people in Asia Pacific including 770 in Singapore.
On the severance package, she said: "This would be made in accordance with the local laws and customs."
The retrenchments have no impact on Palm and US Robotics as both were spun off by 3Com.
The layoffs are part of 3Com CEO Bruce Claflin's plan, announced last December, to save between US$200 million and US$250 million through a reorganization and become profitable.
3Com posted sales of US$789.5 million for the second quarter ended December 2000, with a US$52.4 million loss on slowing sales of network equipment to telecom carriers and Internet Service Providers.
Other players in the networking and IT sector have also been hit by lowered earnings forecasts and job cuts.
Earlier this month, Nortel Networks cut earnings and revenue estimates while slashing its work force by 10,000. Motorola has announced that it would reduce its workforce by about 2,500 in an effort to improve sagging profits.
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