Dot Com News from Week of March 26, 2001

• 3/31/01 - Internet Pictures Corp., a company that produces 360-degree still and video images for Web sites such as for real estate and entertainment, said it has cut operating expenses by 75 percent, was reducing its work force by 60 percent from October levels and was eliminating 70 percent of its senior managers.
• 3/31/01 - MicroAge, Inc., a once flourishing computer distributor that sought bankruptcy protection last year to reorganize financially, now says it will sell its remaining assets. Some of the company's remaining 250 employees would be laid off.
• 3/30/01 - Gateway will effectively terminate Gateway.net by July 31. The company will still act as an Internet service provider to a very limited number of people but will discontinue service to mainstream customers. Gateway also said it will shut all 10 Gateway Country stores in Canada, a cost-cutting measure that will affect about 220 employees.
• 3/30/01 - Panja Inc. announced that it has reduced its workforce by approximately 10%, resulting in the elimination of 47 jobs in the US. Panja designs, develops, and markets advanced electronic equipment software that extend Internet content to non-PC devices that target both the consumer and enterprise markets.
• 3/30/01 - eMachines Inc. has announced plans to take a $3.7 million restructuring charge and streamline its operations so it can focus on its core business of delivering cut price PCs. Some 21 jobs will be lost as a result.
• 3/30/01 - Cysive Inc., which designs and builds systems for electronic businesses, will cut 90 to 95 jobs, or about 30% of its staff.
• 3/30/01 - Oxygen Media, which was founded as a cable and Internet network targeting women, cut 35 jobs in its online division, becoming the latest media firm to trim its Web operations.
• 3/30/01 - Blue Martini Software Inc., a software and services provider, plans to cut staff and trim expansion because the slowing economy caused the company to gain fewer licensing contracts during the quarter.
• 3/30/01 - C-Cor.net Corp., a cable transmission equipment vendor, said it plans to consolidate manufacturing and service facilities by eliminating up to 700 jobs by the end of 2001. C-Cor said the cuts will be achieved through layoffs, attrition, and elimination of open positions.
• 3/30/01 - PRI Automation Inc., which makes automation systems and software for the semiconductor industry, announced that it is implementing cost-cutting programs to reduce spending, including eliminating 370 temporary and regular full-time employees, or 20% of its work force.
• 3/30/01 - Ameritrade announced that it was laying off 170 customer service workers, or about 7% of its work force. It's the second round of layoffs at the company as it grapples with declining business.
• 3/29/01 - In a severe cost-cutting move, Internet consulting company Organic will lay off about 35 percent of its work force (about 300 people) and said that it has received notice that company shares could be delisted from the Nasdaq. This will leave the company with about 525 employees.
• 3/29/01 - Internet news site WSJ.com intends to lay off some of its staff as part of a restructuring plan to reduce costs amid the Net advertising slowdown. The site currently employs some 250 staffers.
• 3/28/01 - Viant Corp., a company that builds and grows digital businesses, said it will cut 38 percent of its workforce, about 211 employees, and will close its Houston, San Francisco, and Munich offices in an effort to reduce costs.
• 3/28/01 - Voice, data and Internet services provider World Access Inc. said it is exploring restructuring alternatives in view of disappointing revenues, and might seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
• 3/28/01 - Gateway has closed 27 of its Country stores as the company looks to cut costs. The store closings affect about 500 employees, who will be given the opportunity to take other positions within the company.
• 3/28/01 - Chinadotcom says it will cut about 400 jobs, close offices, and consolidate operations worldwide by the end of the second quarter to reduce costs.
• 3/28/01 - ADC Telecommunications plans to cut as many as 4,000 more jobs and will have an unexpected fiscal second-quarter loss after customers canceled orders for phone equipment. The telecommunications equipment provider, which has 21,000 workers, will trim its staff by as much as 19 percent.
• 3/27/01 - Online skills certification company Brainbench laid off 33 of its 96 employees in a move the company's chief executive said will bring it to profitability almost a half-year ahead of schedule.
• 3/27/01 - Swedish telecommunications giant Ericsson said it will cut 3,300 jobs in Sweden and Britain and will slash costs by 2.24 billion euros ($1.99 billion) annually from 2002 in response to a slowdown in the economy and falling sales.
• 3/27/01 - Hurt by increased competition from the Internet and lower-priced cards, American Greetings Corp. plans to close plants and lay off workers as part of a restructuring plan. American Greetings, the nation's second-largest greeting card company, employs 21,000 worldwide at its 19 facilities and has almost $2 billion in annual sales.
• 3/27/01 - Finnish telecom company Nokia said it would cut 300 to 400 jobs in its networks unit in an effort to streamline its high-speed Internet broadband systems division.
• 3/27/01 - The Walt Disney Co. plans to slash 4,000 jobs, or about 3 percent, from its global workforce by July in the face of a weak economy that already has hurt advertising sales and could spread deeper into tourism. Disney currently employs about 120,000 people worldwide.
• 3/27/01 - Feeling the pinch from lower-than-expected spending by telecom companies, Nortel Networks said first quarter earnings and revenue numbers will not meet previous expectations. The company did not offer guidance for the rest of the fiscal year, but announced plans for further layoffs, which would bring the total number of employees cut by the middle of 2001 to 15,000.
• 3/27/01 - Palm Inc. reported a third quarter profit that beat estimates, but widened its outlook for fourth quarter losses and said it would cut staff and trim costs due to the soft U.S. economy. In an effort to trim costs, the company said it would cut some 250 staff from its base of 1,524 employees and 400 contract workers. The company also postponed construction of its new corporate headquarters in San Jose, Calif., which was scheduled to begin this month.
• 3/26/01 - Due to a dramatic drop in customer demand, communications chip designer PMC-Sierra warned that first-quarter revenue and earnings would come in below previous estimates. The company will also lay off 230 employees, about 13% of its overall workforce.
• 3/26/01 - Conexant Systems Inc., a semiconductor and Internet software company, is cutting 1,500 jobs, or 17.8 percent of its work force, as it tries to reduce costs because of the technology market slowdown.
• 3/26/01 - SciQuest Inc., a technology and solutions company providing integrated e-commerce and asset management solutions for research enterprises, will cut its staff by about 30%, or 85 employees, and realign its management teams in an effort to reduce annual cash outlays by $10 million to $12 million.
• 3/26/01 - HotJobs.com said it has laid off 99 employees, or about 15% of its work force, since Jan. 1 to hold down costs and reaffirmed its goal of turning a profit no later than the fourth quarter of 2001.
• 3/26/01 - Aiwa Co., an electronics maker 50.6%-owned by Sony Corp., has unveiled one of the biggest restructuring programs yet by a Japanese company, saying it will slash its work force by half and close all but one of its nine factories.