A Freeonline source has told ZDNet that a -mass sacking" resulted in staff being escorted from the company building by security staff on Monday afternoon.
-At Freeonline, numbers have been cut back to skeleton staff," the source said.
Company director Bill Lang confirmed the company had undergone a recent restructuring in light of the ISP's tightened relationship with its global sister company, Sharinga Networks.
-Several people did not have positions in that restructured group," Lang said. -We had new staffing requirements in line with the new plan."
Some -talented" Freeonline staff had been given the opportunity to apply for jobs at Sharinga, he said.
Overall, less than 10 staff would be left without a job, he said. Lang said Freeonline's attempts to step up its relationship with Sharinga came as part of a plan to attack the global ISP market.
Sharinga last week closed a deal with Concert, an AT&T and British Telecom global venture, that allowed Concert to use Freeonline technology. It is believed that Concert took a 15 per cent share in Sharinga for around $US60 million - for the use of the technology.
When asked if the sacked employees were contractors or fulltime Freeonline employees, Lang said, -all Freeonline employees work under a contract."
The staffing cutback comes just three weeks after the ISP cut off free internet access to customers who wanted to visit non-partnering sites.
