Sun Microsystems to cut 4,000 jobs

Sun Microsystems is to cut around 4,000 jobs, or 9% of its workforce.

The US company is also expecting to make a loss during its first quarter.

Sun says first-quarter revenue will range from £1.8bn to nearly £2bn, well below estimates.

It expects to write off around £338m to account for the redundancies.

Sun has managed to avoid widescale lay-offs until now.

But it warned in July it was planning to trim about 300 jobs from its 43,600-strong workforce.

Chairman and chief executive Scott McNealy says, "Sun's position as a leading provider of internet and network infrastructure is stronger than ever, but the current economic environment is obviously very difficult.

"The computer industry is continuing to consolidate and downsize itself. In addition, the events of September 11 have impacted us all."

Mr McNealy says: "Things were tough with the economy before, but now we are facing increasing uncertainties both in the US and globally.

"To ensure the long-term health of the business, we are making structural changes to the capacity of our company."