Juniper confirms staff layoffs

Follows disappointing Q2.

Juniper Networks is cutting headcount as part of an internal restructuring, but has declined to confirm the number of employees being let go and what Juniper groups the layoffs affect.

A spokesman for the company in the US said, however, that it planned to end the year with a net increase in its global workforce. Calls to Juniper Australia were not returned by the time of publication.

There have been several weeks of rumours around Juniper planning to lay off employees following a disappointing Q2 earnings report. In late August, UBS analyst Nikos Theodosopoulous cut his price target on Juniper's stock and suggested Juniper's layoffs could be sizable.

"Following further industry checks, we believe Juniper may be planning a deeper workforce reduction than we previously anticipated, perhaps 10 percent of its total headcount of around 9,300 as of the end of the June quarter," Theodosopoulos wrote in the note, dated Aug. 30.

According to Forbes, Juniper described Theodosopoulos' 10 percent number as "grossly overstated and inaccurate."

However, the blog SIlicon Angle on October 1 reported that 300 employees had ben cut, quoting "a source inside Juniper."

A number of IT vendors have downsized this year following lackluster earnings reports and an uncertain economic climate. Among the most notable is Juniper archrival Cisco, which has cut nearly 13,000 positions -- a combination of layoffs, early retirements and asset sales -- as part of a plan to remove $1 billion in expenses in its fiscal 2012.

This article originally appeared at crn.com