Check out these Unusually Stupid Celebrities.

jobless
Image by khalilshah via Flickr

The damage doesn't stop with Microsoft today.  Far from it.  No wonder people are hanging signs on their cars to get work.

Digg

Digg announced today that they are laying off 10 percent of their staff.  Granted, for Digg this is only about seven people, but trying telling those seven people that it's "no big deal".

Digg's growth has flattened lately.  In the U.S., Digg attracted 6.8 million unique visitors in December, up only 2 percent since its last peak in July (via comScore). Worldwide, the site is doing a little better, with 17.7 million unique visitors in December, up 7 percent from July.

CEO Jay Adelson notes that company priorities now include, “building on our advertising infrastructure, our successful partnership with Microsoft, and ongoing sponsorship opportunities.”

Sun Microsystems

Last November, Sun Microsystems said it would be laying off up to 6,000 employees.  That's about 18 percent of its workforce.  This came after a weak first quarter performance. The cuts are happening today, ahead of the company’s second-quarter earnings report next Tuesday.

The software company is facing hard times as the market has shifted from closed-source to open-source software technologies, like Linux, and it's facing stiff competition from larger rivals like IBM and HP. Also, a major portion of the company’s business is in the financial sector - not a good sector to deal with nowadays.

Intel

Lastly (for now), there is Intel.  They announced Wednesday that they will cut production at two U.S. silicon wafer facilities and closing three facilities in Asia.  This will affect around 5,000 to 6,000 workers.

Intel did say that some of the workers could be offered positions at other facilities.

"The fact that they're taking action rather quickly to rightsize production" is encouraging, said Doug Freedman, analyst at research firm Broadpoint AmTech.

Intel, like other chipmakers, needs to scale production to a level that matches demand, according to Freedman.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Sphere: Related Content

It's nice to see you again! Thanks for reading Blippitt. What do you think of this story? Be sure to leave a comment below.

Technorati Tags: Digg, Intel, Sun Microsystems

Related Stories on Blippitt: