Novell's acquisition of Cambridge Technology Partners earlier this year resulted in 22 redundancies in Australia last week, amidst rumours that the networking software maker will shed one-third of its worldwide headcount.
CNET News.com yesterday reported sources as saying that Novell plans to slash as many as one-third of its 7,400 global employees, amidst a sharp downturn in the company's business.
Novell Australia laid off 22 staff last week, following what the company claims to be a balancing out of duplicated roles following its acquisition of Cambridge Technology Partners.
Commenting on the company's global cull, a Novell spokesperson said: -to the best of our knowledge it's a result of the Cambridge acquisition".
Ashley Wearne managing director, Novell Australasia, said the company regretted the loss of staff from its local operations.
"In the global integration process following Novell's acquisition of Cambridge Technology Partners, we have identified a number of duplicated positions across the two companies. In Australia this has resulted in 22 redundancies across both companies to reduce the overlap in mostly management and administration functions," Wearne said.
"Whilst we regret the loss of any staff, such rationalisation is a common part of an acquisition and allows us to continue to manage our business efficiently. Novell remains committed to its staff and customers in Australia and New Zealand."
Novell said the local layoffs have nothing to do with retrenchments in the same order of magnitude, which occurred in May this year following disappointing Q2 results.
At the time Novell axed about 23 positions in Australia, mainly across technical support, over a four-month period.
