Troubles in the financial world may be hitting the technology sector

As a business owner I am often given the responsibility for trying to make a forecast based on information I am receiving from my employees, customers and vendors. Having had some background in Economics, I always try to remember that Economists have forecasted about eight of the last three recessions : ) .

I am leery of making forecasts only on News reports, because the media makes sales by telling us how bad things are, which I understand is why local news starts with the latest murders in a city like Philadelphia. Telling us how beautiful the leaves are with pictures might not keep people glued to their TV sets as long, and ad sales may suffer.

But even while keeping this in mind , there seems to be a steadily increasing level of news about technology layoffs.

Finance’s Troubles Infect Tech
As Wall Street’s giants take massive writedowns, fears are growing about the impact on technology budgets
by Heather Green
How hard are the troubles in the finance sector going to hit tech? Since technology companies rely heavily on Wall Street, it’s been a growing question as financial giants have taken one massive hit after another.

Now, the answer is starting to emerge. On Nov. 7, Cisco (CSCO) reported fiscal first-quarter earnings and CEO John Chambers disappointed investors with a softer-than-expected outlook for the rest of the year, in large part because of the financial sector. “In the U.S. and the enterprise [markets], we did see some softness,” Chambers said. “The finance vertical was the one hardest hit.”

E-Loan Eliminates 400 Jobs
Posted by Keith C. Smith on Nov 13 2007 06:49:01 PST
The floodwaters of the mortgage crisis have swept onto the internet’s shores as E-Loan announced yesterday its layoff of 400 employees.

410 employees at the company’s Pleasanton, Calif., headquarters were notified last Friday that they would be dismissed after 60 days. The headquarters currently employs 925 people.

E-Loan intends to jettison 410 of the roughly 925 jobs at its headquarters in the East Bay, said Laurie Azzano, a spokeswoman for Pleasanton-based E-Loan.

AOL’s Falco Says 2,000 Layoffs
By Tammi Marcoullier at 11:34 a.m., October 15, 2007 (Updated at 1:58 p.m., October 15, 2007)
Over the next couple of months, AOL will lay off 2,000 people out of a worldwide workforce of 10,000, according to a letter to company employees sent by CEO Randy Falco today. These staff reductions begin tomorrow, as have long been rumored throughout the company and in the blogsphere. The Associated Press is reporting that about 750 staff will be cut from Northern Virginia offices, including former headquarters in Dulles; 1,200 total in the U.S.

Boston Scientific starts planned layoffs of workers
Boston Scientific Corp., which recently said it will eliminate 2,300 jobs worldwide, has begun letting workers go. But both the Natick medical device maker and the state have declined to say how many of the cuts are being made in Massachusetts.

Lawrence Livermore Lab will lay off 500 workers
LIVERMORE – Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will be laying off 500 employees over the next month as the nuclear weapons research facility trims costs following a change in management, a lab spokeswoman said.

SEAGATE
Reports: Seagate to lay off 900 workers in Ireland Seagate Technology Inc. said it will lay off more than 900 employees in its Northern Ireland operations, according to reports Monday.

In this atmosphere it is refreshing to know that our company’s growth is solid and I forecast that it will continue to grow. Because as budgets tighten companies look for an affordable reliable alternative for their hardware service and support.

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