Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:[[ticker:AKAM]]) is contributing to our growing list of local tech firms laying off workers recently, saying it will cut about 110 employees or 7 percent of its total staff this quarter to reduce operating costs. But the Cambridge, MA-based company, which operates a worldwide network of servers that speed delivery of its clients’ content to Web users, gave no indication of where it would make the layoffs.
Akamai financial chief JD Sherman asserted in a statement that the company has not changed in business outlook, and the firm expects that the cash saved by reducing its workforce will provide dollars to invest in its core businesses and international expansion. Yet the company anticipates a $4 million charge related to severances and other costs related to the layoffs, on top of losing about $2.5 million in sublease income at leased facilities.
Wade wondered aloud in a post yesterday whether this week’s move by Amazon (NASDAQ:[[ticker:AMZN]]) into the content delivery network arena with its CloudFront service would bring a cold front to Akamai. For some Akamai workers—and for much of the economy—the proverbial bad weather has arrived.
We have added the data on Akamai’s layoffs to our Boston Tech Layoff Tracker, where the total now stands just shy of 1,500.
