Adobe laying off 680 staff to cut costs

Adobe Systems will lay off 680 staff, or 9 percent of its workforce, in its latest move to cut costs, the company confirmed Tuesday.

The job cuts will be made worldwide and are designed to bring Adobe's costs in line with its 2010 budget and "the realities of the business environment," the company said.

Adobe also reduced the workforce at Omniture, which it has just acquired, by 9 percent at the close of that acquisition, a spokeswoman said.

Messages about the layoffs started appearing on Twitter earlier Tuesday.

Adobe announced a previous round of layoffs last December, when it said it would cut 600 jobs worldwide to reduce costs. It said the recession had been causing slow sales of its Creative Suite 4 software, which it launched last October.

Its business has continued to lag this year, even as its stock price rose along with the broader market. In September the company posted third-quarter profits of US$136 million, down from $191.6 million in the third quarter of 2008. Revenue also fell, to $697.5 million from $887.3 million a year earlier.

This latest restructuring will result in pretax charges of $65 million to $71 million, including about $50 million for severance payments and $18 million to consolidate leased facilities, the company said.