IDC lays off eight analysts and 15 additional staff

Tips started coming into SageCircle last night. Over the last twelve hours we have identified five six of the eight analysts. Out of respect to the analysts we will not publish the names.*

In an e-mail exchange with SageCircle, IDC Corporate Communications Director Michael Shirer released the following statement:

• On May 20, IDC reduced its U.S. headcount by 23 — this represents 1% of IDC’s 1,680 employees worldwide.
• Most of the staff reductions came from internal operations functions (primarily IT development and document publishing) which are being moved offshore to IDC offices overseas.
• Seven full-time and one part-time research analysts were affected by the layoffs. These positions came from across the research organization and not from any one research area.
• The research layoffs were made in an effort to rebalance IDC’s offerings with current and future demands for our research. IDC currently has 10 U.S.-based research positions that it is actively seeking to fill and we have many more research positions overseas that we are seeking to fill. IDC will continue to have throughout 2008 more than 1,000 research analysts worldwide which is more than any other technology market intelligence company.
• IDC’s revenues this year are growing at a healthy 10% growth rate for the first seven months of the IDC fiscal year (October through April). The staff reduction was part of a one-time restructuring and rebalancing of IDC resources to ensure that IDC staffing is properly aligned to meet current and future client needs.
• Finally, in response to your question about whether clients are being informed of changes in our research staff, IDC’s policy is to inform its clients whenever there are changes in its research staff. This includes new hires as well as departures.

SageCircle commentary: Unlike the dot-bomb time and the tech recession in the early 2000s when many analyst boutiques went out of business and major firms had major layoffs, this move by IDC does not appear to presage any particular problems. Rather, these layoffs appear to be the typical tweaking of staff that happens in many corporations on a regular basis. Except for clients who buy the research and vendors covered by the analysts let go, others in the analyst ecosystem need not be concerned about this move by IDC.

* SageCircle clients can call Carter Lusher at 650-274-8309 to learn the names of the analyst let go and discuss implications.

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