Symantec planning job cuts

[dwarakesh]

Security software maker Symantec will lay off an undetermined number of workers before the end of the year as part of a cost-cutting move in the economic downturn, said a company spokesman.

The company, which gave guidance this week that was short of analyst expectations, plans a 4.5 percent cost savings in its workforce budget and will reduce the headcount enough to accomplish that, said the spokesman.

The company said that he did not know how many employees would be laid off as a result, but said the layoffs will be global, will vary across geographies, and that no specific business units were being targeted.

Symantec will start alerting employees within the next month.

The workforce budget includes costs for salaries, bonuses and benefits for the company's 17,500 employees Symantec said its second-quarter net income for the period ended October 3 rose to $140 million, or 16 cents a share, from $50.4 million or 6 cents a share in the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose to $1.52 billion from $1.42 billion.

Excluding special items, Symantec said earnings for the quarter rose to 37 cents a share. Analysts had estimated the company would post earnings excluding special items of 35 cents a share for the quarter and $1.54 billion in revenue, according to FactSet Research.

Symantec said it is somewhat insulated from the economic downturn because it sells critical security and computer infrastructure management software. It also said it made progress managing expenses during the quarter.