Symantec confirms UK redundancy plans

Some inside sales functions could be moved out to Dublin, according to sources

Symantec has confirmed it has put some of its UK workforce at risk of redundancy.

According to sources, the security and back-up vendor entered into a consultation process with its entire UK inside sales team yesterday.

Roles affected are believed to include sales administration, telesales and renewals, with one theory - unconfirmed by Symantec itself - being that some of those functions may move over to Symantec's base in Ballycoolin Business Park, Dublin.

Symantec, whose UK head office is in Green Park, would not comment in detail but offered us the following statement:

"As part of the separation of Symantec into two, independently publicly traded companies, a number of roles were recently proposed for redundancy and some employees in the UK are part of a process of consultation. Symantec will not comment on individuals or specific groups impacted by this and is working with employees to guide them through the consultancy process."

One UK Symantec Platinum partner, speaking anonymously, said he understood that some UK and European renewals and partner account management functions had already been moved out to Dublin in recent months. Moving the internal sales functions could make the process of engaging with Symantec's direct sales more "disjointed", he feared.

"Symantec even has hotdesks in Green Park that partners can reserve so you can go in and build a relationship with their internal sales staff. That'll all be out the window now," the partner said.

He understood that dozens of staff will have been impacted by the latest news and that those affected would be offered a package giving them the choice of relocating or taking redundancy over the coming weeks.

Chief executive Michael Brown said Symantec delivered "solid results" in its most recent quarter ending on 3 October, despite revenues falling one per cent year on year to $1.62bn.

The firm's proposed split into two firms at the end of this year - one focused on security and the other on information management respectively - is designed to "drive growth and enhance shareholder value", according to the vendor.