Previous Story: Comdex canceled again this year
Next Story: Microsoft expands Windows piracy check on downloads

I2 to lay off 15 percent of workforce
By Robert McMillan

Supply chain software vendor i2 Technologies Inc. on Wednesday announced that it has begun a round of layoffs that will see as much as 15 percent of its 2,000 person workforce eliminated.

The struggling software vendor will notify most employees of the layoffs by Thursday, the end of the company's first fiscal quarter, said company spokeswoman Beth Elkin. The layoffs will be company-wide and are not focused on any one business unit or geographic region, she said.

Faced with losses and declining revenue over the last year, i2 is looking for ways to cut costs. Though the layoffs will result in a restructuring charge for the company's first quarter, the Dallas-based company hopes to eventually trim more than $15 million off its operating costs. Operating expenses totalled $85 million in the fourth quarter of 2004, the company said in a statement.

In addition to the layoffs, i2 also hopes to cut costs with a number of unspecified program and operating expense reductions, Elkin said. The company plans to detail these programs during its next quarterly earnings call, she said.

The workforce reductions come just over a month after i2 appointed Michael McGrath, as president and chief executive officer. In Wednesday's statement, McGrath said he was given a "mandate by the Board of Directors to resize and refocus i2."

Posted March 31, 2005 04:49 PM |