Beleaguered Sun Forced to Lay Off 3,000 More Employees

Published: Oct 20, 2009
Updated: Feb 2, 2021
2 minute read
eWeek content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More

Beleaguered Sun Microsystems revealed Oct. 20 that it must trim about 3,000 jobs over the next 12 months, due largely to the delay in closing its planned merger with Oracle, which is currently under review by the European Commission.
The EC, which monitors commercial competition in the 27 countries that comprise the European Union, started due diligence on the deal in August and has said it expects to have a decision by Nov. 19 on whether to approve the deal.
Meanwhile, Oracle founder and CEO Larry Ellison has said Sun is losing about $100 million per month as the two companies wait for the EC to make its decision.
In an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Sun reported that its board approved a new plan “to better align the company’s resources with its strategic business objectives,” which includes laying off 3,000 workers during the next year.
The company also said in the filing it would need to incur charges amounting to between $75 million and $125 million over the next several quarters to maintain its restructuring plan.
In November 2008, Sun announced that it planned to reduce its global work force by 5,000 to 6,000 employees-or 15 to 18 percent-in 2009. Many of those jobs were vacated by attrition, a Sun source told eWEEK at the time.
Sun, based in Santa Clara, Calif., currently has about 29,000 full-time employees. Despite its respected products and intellectual property, the company has been plagued with red ink for most of the last decade.

Chris Preimesberger

Chris J. Preimesberger is Editor Emeritus of eWEEK. In his 16 years and more than 5,000 articles at eWEEK, he distinguished himself in reporting and analysis of the business use of new-gen IT in a variety of sectors, including cloud computing, data center systems, storage, edge systems, security and others. In February 2017 and September 2018, Chris was named among the 250 most influential business journalists in the world (https://richtopia.com/inspirational-people/top-250-business-journalists/) by Richtopia, a UK research firm that used analytics to compile the ranking. He has won several national and regional awards for his work, including a 2011 Folio Award for a profile (https://www.eweek.com/cloud/marc-benioff-trend-seer-and-business-socialist/) of Salesforce founder/CEO Marc Benioff--the only time he has entered the competition. Previously, Chris was a founding editor of both IT Manager's Journal and DevX.com and was managing editor of Software Development magazine. He has been a stringer for the Associated Press since 1983 and resides in Silicon Valley.

eWeek Logo

eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site's focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2026 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.