Symantec Layoffs: Fiscal Year 2020 Staff Cuts Begin
Symantec has begun layoffs that were first announced in August 2019. The cybersecurity company is cutting is cutting 152 jobs at its Mountain View headquarters and 18 in San Francisco, along with 36 in Culver City (Los Angeles County), according to The San Francisco Chronicle.
The overall layoffs will impact roughly 7 percent of staff during fiscal year 2020, the cybersecurity company announced in August 2019. The company also plans to downsize, vacate or close certain facilities and data centers in connection with the restructuring plan, Symantec disclosed that month.
The cuts are part of two larger stories:
- Broadcom is acquiring Symantec’s enterprise security business for $10.7 billion, as announced in August 2019.
- Separately, Symantec may be negotiating to sell its consumer business, according to more recent chatter.
Among the questions ChannelE2E is seeking to answer: How will Broadcom…
- staff Symantec’s SMB-focused channel efforts; and
- support Symantec’s MSSP business unit?
We’ll share details when we have them.
Related: List of all technology industry layoffs.
Symantec Security Revenue Challenges
Symantec has struggled on multiple fronts in recent years. Former CEO Greg Clark resigned in May 2019 amid weak enterprise cybersecurity software revenues and intense competition from next-generation endpoint protection rivals — though the company’s latest quarterly results exceeded Wall Street’s expectations.
Executive team departures over the past year have also included Symantec’s CFO, chief operating officer, chief marketing officer and the head of its go-to-market teams, Silicon Valley Business Journal noted in May. Board member Rick Hill has been interim president and CEO of the company since that time.
Symantec had about 1,200 layoffs and job cuts in mid-2016, representing about 10 percent of staff at the time.
Redundant staff is considerable at SYMC. The mid-tier especially, where many mid-level managers have fewer than 10 reports. Individual contributors will be consolidated under fewer managers. For instance, a team of five with one manager will be consolidated with an existing team of 10. Another consideration is skill-set related. SYMC has some infrastructure that requires experienced staff familiar with the extensive customizations to internal tool sets. The more “generic” staff, e.g., sales and accounting, are more susceptible to layoffs.
Somehow, I’m sure the execs will come out smelling like a rose. The certainly did when Symantec acquired Blue Coat. Execs always take care of each other. The employees bust their a$$ to make the company attractive as a buyout, but they get none of the benefits when it happens. Instead, they get laid off.