Dot Com News from Week of June 11, 2001
- 6/15/01 - Caliber Learning Network, a Baltimore e-learning infrastructure company, announced that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The bankruptcy filing comes one week after the company confirmed that it recently laid off 75% of its work force, or about 88 positions.
- 6/15/01 - At Road Inc., a wireless Internet systems provider, cut its work force by 12%, or 40 employees, and implemented a 20% price increase on its service and the platforms that enable the service. The company currently has 290 employees. The company plans to continue lowering fixed expenses because of the softness in the economy.
- 6/15/01 - 360networks is considering seeking bankruptcy protection as it was unsuccessful in fulfilling an interest payment of $10.9 million. Discussions with current shareholders revealed that it is also possible to persue restructuring of the company.
- 6/15/01 - Juniper Networks, the IP infrastructure firm, confirmed it had layed off 8 to 9 percent of its workers or about 100 people by Friday amid disappointing second-quarter results.
- 6/15/01 - Geoworks Corp. which provides wireless data software, announced it will eliminate 43 workers or 22 percent of its staff. Reportedly, the company says its fiscal first quarter revenues will fall short of expectations reaching only $3 to $3.4 million whereas it expected between $3.9 to $4.4 million.
- 6/15/01 - Philips Semiconductor announced it will slash 20% of its workforce. In addition the company asked some its workers to take three week vacations whether vacation time is accrued or not.
- 6/15/01 - Nortel Networks is terminating 10,000 jobs and killing its stock dividend after an expected but dismal second quarter loss of $19.2 billion. This is in addition to 20,000 terminations that occurred earlier in the year. Nortel said it will stop making equipment for DSL.
- 6/15/01 - A federal judge ruled Bloomberg LP and Internet Wire Inc. are not financially responsible for a phony Emulex Corporation press release that was posted that resulted in a stock plunge of 60%. College student Mark S. Jakob pleaded guilty to making up the press release. Investor's losses due to the scheme reached an estimated $110 million according to federal officials.
- 6/15/01 - Xerox plans to end the employment of 1050 people at its Ireland and Rochester region locations in an effort to avoid possible financial losses. The company will no longer produce its low cost copiers and printers but will resume support and supplies to existing customers.
- 6/14/01 - The European site, SaferInternet.org has temporarily been taken offline due to having been hacked twice in the past week. Like its name suggests, the web site focuses on making the Internet safer.
- 6/14/01 - MP3.com celebrated its one millionth song, "So Long" by Lapdog, to its database. The company also created a new service that allows users to transfer songs onto CD via a portable device.
- 6/13/01 - Web site filtering software developer N2H2 Inc. is dumping 43 staffers as it moves to a reseller sales model in an effort to cut costs. N2H2 filtering software is used by thousands of U.S. schools, by libraries, large businesses, and companies overseas to block Web content seen as undesirable.
- 6/13/01 - Semiconductor maker Integrated Device Technology said it would cut 900 jobs, or 18 percent of its work force, due to slowing demand for chips.
- 6/13/01 - NIC Commerce Inc., an e-government procurement subsidiary of National Information Consortium Inc. (NIC), laid off almost 30 workers last week, or about 40 percent of its workforce. The move was part of a staff reduction across most of NIC.
- 6/13/01 - Online ad serving company AdForce has dismissed all of its 150 staff members and is winding down operations, according to parent company CMGI. The 7-year-old concern had been in acquisition talks before the board of directors decided to hire outside counsel to liquidate its assets.
- 6/13/01 - The board of directors for Adaptive Broadband, which makes high-speed fixed wireless equipment that operates in unlicensed wireless spectrum, announced that they would be willing to consider a sale, merger or recapitalization of the company.
- 6/13/01 - Metalspectrum, an online marketplace for specialty metals, said that it ceased operations because of high operating costs and difficulty attracting buyers to business-to-business Web sites. Atlanta-based Metalspectrum, launched in May 2000, was designed to be a marketplace for trading aluminum, copper, brass, stainless and carbon steel, and other metals.
- 6/13/01 - Georgia-Pacific Corp. said it will cut its wallboard production capacity by 45% in North America due to weak product pricing and rising energy costs. The plan, which includes plant closures and "indefinite curtailments," will result in a second-quarter charge of about $75 million, including any severance payments to the more than 500 workers affected by the cutbacks.
- 6/13/01 - Electric utility Exelon Corp. said it will lay off nearly 300 employees starting in July, mostly in clerical and maintenance positions.
- 6/13/01 - Iomega, the maker of Zip storage drives, is closing its manufacturing plant in Roy, Utah, and laying off about 110 employees to cut costs. Before the layoffs, the company had 3,500 workers worldwide.
- 6/13/01 - Polaroid Corp., squeezed by a big debt load and an assault from new technology, plans to cut an additional 2,000 jobs, reducing its work force to 5,500, about 35% below the number at the start of the year.
- 6/12/01 - Printing company R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. again lowered its earnings projections for 2001 and said it plans to cut more jobs, citing weak demand and pricing pressures amid the economic slowdown. Donnelly said it will cut 250 jobs from its general and administrative operations, which should help the company save $10 million in the second half.
- 6/12/01 - U.S. personal computer maker Dell plans to shed about 275 jobs in Ireland and Britain as part of its worldwide cost-cutting plan. "This decision supports Dell's global focus on aggressive management of operating expenses," its statement said. According to Dell, the jobs--all in non-sales administrative, support and management positions--will be shed in a voluntary separation program.
- 6/12/01 - Nokia announced plans to slash 300 jobs from its manufacturing plant in Bochum, Germany. The cuts, which represent 10 percent of Nokia's workforce of 3,000, come on top of similar cutbacks at Ericsson earlier this year. Most of the cuts will be made in the company's board assembly operations, which will be partially moved to other facilities, as well as to contract manufacturers.
- 6/12/01 - Sonicblue, a digital media technology company, said it has cut its 813-person work force by 30 percent as part of a plan to achieve profitability by early 2002. The company's product line includes the Rio MP3 audio players. Its latest acquisitions include Sensory Science and ReplayTV.
- 6/12/01 - Avaya, the communications equipment maker spun off from Lucent Technologies, has reduced its fiscal 2001 revenue outlook due to lower-than-expected sales in May and early June, and said it would cut at least 3,000 jobs, or 11 percent of its work force.
- 6/11/01 - Web services firm Modem Media said it has laid off 76 employees, about 10 percent of its worldwide staff, and will take a one-time charge of about $1 million for severance.
- 6/11/01 - Semiconductor-equipment maker DuPont Photomasks Inc. lowered its fiscal fourth-quarter outlook as a result of a continuing slowdown in the chip industry. The company also said it will reduce its work force by 6% and decommission several production lines. The company currently employs about 2,000 people.
- 6/11/01 - Anadigics Inc., which makes integrated circuits for telecommunications, cable TV and satellite TV systems, plans to reduce its 650-person work force by 10% or about 65 people and will take other actions such as consolidating manufacturing shifts to reduce operating expenses.
- 6/11/01 - Warnaco Group Inc. filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing the company's debt obligations, increased competition and the softening economic and retail environment. The apparel maker, whose brands include Calvin Klein jeans and underwear, Warner bras and Chaps sportswear, will continue its day-to-day operations during the bankruptcy restructuring.
- 6/11/01 - After reporting disappointing earnings for its fiscal third quarter, Neiman Marcus, an upscale department-store chain, said it would cut 190 full-time jobs, or 1.5% of its work force, in a continuing effort to reduce costs.