Autodesk Hurting: Layoffs Last Month and Now Subletting Space
Autodesk has mostly been in the news as the former employer of Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz. But the company has had other news: financial problems attributed to the current economic malaise. Last month, the company lowered its fourth quarter forecast and announced that it would cut ten percent of its workforce. And now word is that the company is subletting at least 80,000 square feet at two of its San Rafael, Calif. properties:
The company, which makes architectural and engineering software, will sublease 60,000 square feet on two floors at 4000 Civic Center Drive and 20,000 to 25,000 square feet at its space at 1 McInnis Parkway, said Trevor Buck, vice president and a partner with NAI BT Commercial in San Rafael.
These actions are part of cost reduction measures put into place that also include a salary freeze, senior executive pay cut, travel restrictions, and facility consolidations. One question that nags is whether the current problems at the firm were totally beyond anticipation and even some degree of control, or if management was off in its reaction. And given the recent date of her departure, such responsibility would seem to logically sit on the shoulders of former CEO Bartz.
Erik Sherman is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in Newsweek, the New York Times Magazine, Technology Review, the Financial Times, Chief Executive, and other publications. Follow him on Twitter.
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