Novell-branded souvenirs: keep them while they
last (before they become memorabilia)

ON Saturday we referenced an erroneous report from Matt Asay (we have already corrected that post). It was based on incorrect sources and the following article sheds light on what exactly happened.

Open-source vendor Novell Inc. on Saturday confirmed reports that it had a layoff on Friday, though it said the layoffs were small and amounted to less than 3% of its workforce.

Novell spokesman Ian Bruce said the company laid off less than 100 out of 4,200 employees worldwide. He declined to say if the move came in response to slumping sales at the Waltham, Mass. firm.

The number of layoffs cited by Bruce is far smaller than the numbers bouncing around the Web Friday night. CNET blogger Matt Asay, for instance, reported that Novell had cut up to 1,000 employees, citing an inside source who claimed that "basically an across-the-board reduction of 25 percent" was made.

Citrix, which is in terms of its function almost a Microsoft subsidiary or division, is prepared to lay off 10% of its staff.

The workforce reductions will save Citrix about $50m a year in costs, and the company will book charges in the range of $19m to $23m, mostly in the first quarter of 2009, to cover the layoffs.

Guess who else is having hard (financial) times? Microsoft's co-founder, who lost a great proportion of his wealth.

How do you lose $7 billion?

That's a question for Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen, who has seen his massive investment in cable TV operator Charter Communications Inc. all but vanish.

The story is also covered here and here. This could, although not necessarily, add to Microsoft's own woes. ⬆