Dot Com News from Week of November 5, 2001

• 11/9/01 - World Wrestling Federation Entertainment's president and operating chief resigned, and the company said it will cut about 9% of its work force as part of a move to consolidate operations.

• 11/9/01 - Following the the action last month of President and CEO Richard Dalamazzi stepping down, Certicom will eliminate 30% of its North American workers or approximately 96 positions. This is in an attempt to focus better on its encryption-technology services. The job cuts are expected to occur during the next fiscal quarter.
• 11/9/01 - Canadian airlines Canada 3000 has ceased operations and was granted protection from its creditors yesterday. The company was welcomed a $50 million bail out by the Canadian government but was turned down after failing to provide a business plan. Lawyers of Canada 3000 announced it was also seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States.
• 11/8/01 - In another sign that the electronic revolution has yet to arrive, Random House folded its electronic-book imprint, AtRandom.com, and dispersed the titles among other imprints at the publishing house.
• 11/8/01 - In early negotiations with the United Steelworkers of America, Bethlehem Steel Corp. is asking the union to give up nearly 2,000 jobs, or about 15% of the work force, to help the company save costs as it struggles to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
• 11/7/01 - Business Week, published by McGraw-Hill, has cut 39 jobs, suspended its small-business supplement and scaled back its conference and online businesses as it contends with the downturn in advertising spending. The business magazine employs about 700 people, and the cuts were across the board.
• 11/7/01 - After already delaying raises for its employees, Hewlett-Packard has decided to suspend pay increases until business recovers from the ongoing slump in technology spending. The move is the latest in a string of cost-cutting measures at HP, including twice asking workers to use up vacation time. HP has also had several rounds of job cuts, including some unspecified cuts made last week and 6,000 job cuts earlier this year.
• 11/7/01 - Internet telephony provider Net2Phone will eliminate 43% of its workforce along with decreasing the number of outsourced services. The company will see 290 of its 675 employees gone within this week. Net2Phone expects these actions to save itself approximately $23 million each year.
• 11/6/01 - Internet services provider PSINet Inc. has laid off workers at its office at Rensselaer Technology Park, NY, which one displaced worker put at about 15 percent of the work force or abou 15 to 20 people.
• 11/6/01 - Having just removed 10,000 people from its payroll in Europe, Alcatel, the telecom hardware vendor, has announced plans to shave 1,500 from its U.S. payroll.
• 11/6/01 - The Walt Disney Internet Group, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Co., has laid off an undisclosed number of people in its online units. The company is not releasing numbers, but confirmed that some employees of ABCNews.com were laid off, as well as workers in the technology group of WDIG.
• 11/6/01 - Toshiba, hit hard by the global technology slowdown, said it would idle 12,000 workers in its semiconductor division for two to four days in November and December in a bid to cut costs.
• 11/6/01 - In a restructuring plan estimated to save $5 million a year, Comdial Corp. will eliminate 200 jobs. The company which designs digital switching systems and software said that approximately 100 of these employees would be affected immediately. Much of the cuts are in the manufacturing and engineering departments.
• 11/5/01 - Publisher Ziff Davis Media says it will stop publishing Interactive Week. Stories typically found in the magazine will run in a section inside sister publication eWeek. The company said it will continue to publish an Interactive Week-branded Web site and newsletters. A Ziff representative said the company will eliminate 75 positions from both magazines' sales and editorial departments.
• 11/5/01 - BMC Software announced it would cut 7 percent of its 6,800 workers. Houston-based BMC said it expected to take a third-quarter, severance-related charge in the range of $14 million to $18 million.
• 11/5/01 - China's Legend Holdings will cut 500 manufacturing employees in an effort to lower costs and stay competitive. The employees cut accounts for 10% of the company's nonmanufacturing staff. The company currently has approximately 10,000 workers.
• 11/5/01 - Telephony company ZeroPlus announced it will dissolve and sell off its assets to pay a lender which secured a $2 million loan giving the company 90 days to get more money. Unfortunately, the company was unsuccessful at securing more money and will file either for Chapter 7 liquidation or dissolution in the next few weeks.
• 11/5/01 - One-2-One, a mobile carrier for Deutsche Telekom in the United Kingdom, has told its workforce to expect layoffs -- possibly affecting as much as 10% of the staff. One-2-One is blaming the fact that its customer base has switched from contract handset deals to prepaid packages during the last year and a half.