Tech Layoffs and Bad Management
It's official: Sun Microsystems is laying off 15 to 18 percent of its workforce. Such announcements from tech companies offer as little surprise as a single-day multi-hundred-point movement in the Dow. The tactic has become a management truism, with Wall Street often rewarding the "courageous" decision with an uptick in share price. The rationale is that companies will save beaucoup bucks; Sun hopes to see $700 million to $800 million in annual savings. Unfortunately, layoffs are too often proof of bad management by executives in mortal fear for their own hides. At best they generally provide no net benefit and long-term disaster at worst.
