InFocus Cuts 30 Percent of Staff

Wilsonville, OR-based InFocus (NASDAQ: [[ticker:INFS]]), a maker of digital projectors, announced today it is reducing its global workforce by 30 percent, as part of a company restructuring that will span all of 2009. The staff cuts will be effective next month. InFocus president and CEO Bob O’Malley cited the economic downturn and reduced demand for projectors as reasons for the restructuring. The company says it is spending around $1.3 million on severance payments and some $4 million to vacate facility space in Wilsonville. No word yet on exactly how many jobs will be cut.

Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.