Layoffs Slam SCO and PictureTel

Unix software vendor The Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) said last week it plans to reduce its worldwide workforce by 19%, or around 190 employees. The job cuts will result in the company taking a charge of $US5 million to $US6 million against earnings in the quarter ending Sept. 30. SCO said the cuts will help it meet staffing goals set for its planned merger with Linux vendor Caldera Systems and improve profits. Following shareholder and regulatory approval of the merger, SCO said it will change its name to Tarantella - formerly the name of one of three main SCO divisions.

Meanwhile, published reports indicated PictureTel has cut 9% of its workforce, or 100 people, in the past two months. About 60% of the cuts were in engineering. PictureTel has lost money for the past three years as competitors such as Polycom Inc. introduced more popular videoconferencing products. Layoffs were widespread across the industry last week.

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