Sun Microsystems laid off 301 workers in Colorado today, the second round of cuts in the network server company’s effort to cut costs in a highly competitive tech industry.
According to the Colorado Department of Labor, Sun’s Broomfield campus was hit hardest, with 181 cuts. In Louisville, 113 received pink slips. Sun has other facilities in the state, where a handful off layoffs took place. One worker was cut in Longmont, where Sun has a testing center. Two employees were laid off in Lone Tree and four in Colorado Springs.
The layoffs are part of the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company’s restructuring efforts announced in May to streamline the company and return to profitability. Last week Sun reported second-quarter losses of $301 million or 9 cents a share, compared to income of $50 million or 1 cent a share for the same quarter a year ago. Annual revenue has declined in four of the past five years, with the company reporting more than $5.33 billion in losses since 2002.
Sun now employs about 4,200 at its campuses in Broomfield and Louisville. Sun acquired the Louisville campus last June when it purchased Storage Technology Corp. for $4.1 billion.
Last week the Sun said it would sell the Louisville facility and move the remaining workers to vacant offices on its Broomfield campus. The company is also in the process of closing a former StorageTek facility in Puerto Rico.
Colorado was the second in areas hit hard by the layoffs. In California, the company laid off 431, with the most coming from its Menlo Park campus.
“We can confirm today that layoff notifications were given to Sun employees across the US, Canada, Europe and Asia,” said Sun spokeswoman Stephanie Hess. “As part of that effort, every part of the company’s staffing infrastructure is being evaluated and today’s reductions cross all levels, including vice presidents and directors.”
Local officials said that despite the latest round of layoffs, Colorado’s information technology sector is not failing. There are more than 100,000 IT workers in the state, with small and medium-sized businesses doing most of the new hiring, said Su Hawk, president of the Colorado Software and Internet Association.
“While Sun isn’t shining as brightly as before, in the meantime, there are 3,000 other companies in our state who continually need to be recognized and seen as very important employers,” she said. “The loss of 300 jobs is major. But we hope this announcement today by Sun is the last of their difficult news, and the decision helps them to gain their financial strength.”
Staff writer Kimberly S. Johnson can be reached at 303-820-1088 or kjohnson@denverpost.com.
