Network Associates Inc, the newly formed network security outfit comprising McAfee Associates Inc and Network General Corp, has made the first round of job cuts triggered by its $1.2bn December merger. 150 of the firm’s 1,700 employees are being shown the door, as duplicated positions are eliminated at the company’s headquarters in Santa Clara, California. A spokesperson for the company insisted that all employees losing their jobs would be well compensated and that the small number of lay-offs was unprecedented for a merger of this size. The firm is actively recruiting in product development and sales roles with CEO Bill Larson boldly predicting an extra 1,000 jobs in the coming year. At McAfee’s historical revenue growth rates of over 100%, this sounds feasible, but with the more sedentary Network General now on-board, such aggressive growth targets could prove elusive. Meanwhile the stock price is still failing to make any ground on the huge deficit it suffered when the stock market gave the deal the universal thumbs down three months ago. The shares fell a further $2.88 to close at $47.0 on Monday, down 29% on October’s pre-merger level.
