Informix staff told to pull their weight

Informix CEO Phil White has threatened to axe staff who are not making a contribution to the company?s recovery as the database developer?s financial troubles took hold. In a letter sent to customers last week, White pledged that Informix has learned its lesson and will correct practices that have left it facing ?substantial? losses of up to $100 million in its first quarter results, due to be announced this week.

White admitted: ?It?s clear to me and to all of us here that Informix has just received an important and necessary wake-up call.?

His response was to identify areas that produce less revenue than its expense levels justify, and to cut them back to a reasonable size. White said certain Informix offices will be closed and staff provided with ?alternative ways ... to accomplish their work.? An Informix representative was unable to comment on speculation that plans for a new corporate HQ in California would be scrapped.

White warned: ?We?re going to look at performance more critically. Where people are not pulling their load, we?re going to ask them to leave the business.? The company representative insisted that White was not intending to make large scale layoffs but was unable to say how and when evaluation of staff would take place.

Management at Informix has recently been shuffled, with some senior executives gaining added responsibility ? although others are expected to resign shortly.