Symantec axing as many as 1,700 jobs, says report

Symantec could let go of as many as 1,700 employees starting as soon as today, according to a report.

The security solutions provider is cutting roughly 8 percent of its global work force in two phases, with about 1,000 positions going first, this month, and another 700 people receiving pink slips in July, AllThingsD reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources.

The layoffs shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, as Symantec first talked about the reorganization strategy in January amid its fiscal third-quarter earnings announcement.

The big target here is middle management.

Symantec’s most recent quarterly earnings report was actually better than expected, as CEO Steve Bennett said in May that the company’s repositioning has been off to a strong start for the new fiscal year.

SOURCE: news.cnet.com