This article is more than 1 year old

Belts tightened in push email

Visto lays off another 10 per cent

Data pushing vendor Visto has laid off another ten per cent of its staff, though it won't confirm if that means its development will be moving out of the UK entirely.

Visto used to have more than 300 staff around the world, and this latest "modest restructuring," as the company calls it, involves laying off ten per cent of the remaining workforce. We asked how many that is these days and the company initially told us 300, then called back and said they weren't sure and would have to check. Given the rate at which the company is shrinking, it's probably hard to keep track.

Our contacts tell us the people concerned include the UK development staff, but we've not been able to confirm that and the company won't be drawn on the issue beyond admitting the layoffs and explaining they are being made in the interest of "align[ing] our organization with our customer requirements and bring[ing] the Company to immediate profitability in what everyone acknowledges is a challenging economic environment".

Profitability has proven elusive for Visto, particularly since a key patent claim against RIM was dismissed as invalid in March - despite an extensive round of layoffs in April.

The company is putting a brave face on the situation, and one of the founders will be addressing the Symbian Smartphone show in London next week, presumably to explain why burning $300m and suing everyone nearby hasn't proved an effective business strategy. At least not yet. ®

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like