Blue Coat has assured UK partners that plans to axe a tenth of its workforce will have minimal impact on this side of the Atlantic.
The security and WAN optimisation vendor recently announced it would shave 130 staff from its wage bill after completing its $268m (£138m) acquisition of rival Packeteer (CRN Online, 13 June).
However, Nigel Hawthorn, vice president of EMEA marketing at Blue Coat, said the cuts would stem from the US as the two firms consolidate their head offices.
He added that Blue Coat hopes to take on 30 Packeteer staff in Europe,
boosting its regional headcount to 100.
“Blue Coat’s European business has grown by 40 per cent over the past year and
our employees by about 20 per cent, so this gives us a great opportunity to
redress the balance.”
James Pattinson, security director at Blue Coat distributor DNS Arrow, said: “Blue Coat needs all the sales and marketing headcount it can get because the market is expanding and it is doing well.”
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