Autodesk has announced that it plans to cut about 10% of its workforce, approximately 750 employees, as it lowered its fourth-quarter earnings outlook. The company expects to post quarterly results between $475 million and $500 million on Feb 26th. Previous forcasts were in the region of $525-$550 million.As a result, Autodesk plans to take a pretax charge of $65 million to $75 million for restructuring. The company has a hiring freeze and is implementing business travel restrictions.
Times are tough for all vendors out there as sales dry up. Previously, Carl Bass, the company CEO has gone on record saying that it’s proving difficult trading conditions as companies struggle to find funds to put into major projects. Autodesk has been amongst the first vendors to react strongly to the change in market conditions. Autodesk has lost 64% of its share price in the last year, although that said, it does have $1 Billion cash in the bank.
“Autodesk has a strong cash position and leadership across multiple product sectors and geographies,” CEO Carl Bass said in a statement on the job losses. “The company has experienced several economic downturns during its 26-year history, and like before, we fully expect to emerge from the downturn stronger, more efficient, and more competitive.”
I would expect nearly all the other vendors to follow suit in the coming months.
