New wave of firings hits hi-tech sector By Buzzy Gordon

July 25, 21:00 -- Disappointing second quarter earnings results being reported by numerous hi-tech enterprises are once again causing companies to lay off employees, as a cost-cutting measure. The latest Israeli companies to announce or confirm layoffs include Jacada Ltd., Zoran Corporation, Omnisky Israel and Tecnomatix Technologies.

Herzliya-based Jacada, a provider of e-business infrastructure software, reported that continued market softness affected its results for the second quarter of 2001, leading to a decision to fire 10 percent of its workforce, which numbers approximately 225 worldwide, primarily in Israel and Atlanta, Georgia.

"Net loss for the six months was $2.1 million or $(0.11) per share, compared to net income of $285,000 or $0.01 per share, for the same six-month period last year," the company said. "In the second quarter, Jacada experienced lower-than-expected sales...[therefore] the company recently implemented cost savings that included a 10% reduction in its workforce and across-the-board adjustments to expenses."

Haifa-based Zoran, a provider of digital solutions-on-a-chip for applications in the multimedia and consumer electronics markets, announced yesterday that it is shutting down its Kfar Saba facility altogether. "This move will result in the elimination of some duplicate and non-essential positions," the company said.

Zoran vice president of business development Dr. Isaac Shenberg told the Jerusalem Post that 35 people had been employed in Kfar Saba. "We plan to transfer employees working on MPEG4 development and videostreaming technologies to Haifa," Shenberg said, while refusing to disclose the number of employees being terminated.

In Jerusalem, wireless communications technology company Omnisky Israel, of the retrenchment-plagued Malha Technology Park, fired just under 10 percent of its local workforce, the Post learned.

"We are re-aligning our resources to ensure success...while reducing cash burn," the company said in a statement issued from its California headquarters. "As a result, we have had to make some tough decisions about our workforce, and there have been some layoffs."

Sources close to the company stressed that the Israel office had been hiring new people over the last year, and that the number of employees remaining is still double the number employed when the company was known as NomadIQ.

Herzliya-based Tecnomatix Technologies, a developer of e- manufacturing software, had announced in April that the company was making "additional reductions in our operating expenses." Following deepening losses in the second quarter, company spokesperson Marsha Shalvi told the Post that Tecnomatix would not comment on layoffs, but continues to make "adjustments" along the lines of previously reported "downsizing."

http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/07/26/Digital/Digital.31271.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), July 27, 2001

Answers

Not much left of the Hi Tech sector ANYWHERE!!

-- lael yael (lael@se.net), July 28, 2001.