Ashton-Tate Corp announced yesterday that it would cut worldwide employment by a swingeing 1,700 people, 15%, and cut other operating costs and expenses. It says that turnover will continue to be dull and that this, with the lay-off and other costs may lead to an operating loss for the September 30 quarter worse than the $19.8m on turnover of $59.5m for the June 30 quarter. Separately the company said it would offer two versions of dBase IV 1.1, one a stand-alone the other, to be available later, the Server Edition, because many customers are asking for a version without SQL Server connections. The need for extensive extra testing means neither will now ship this quarter.
