Sun blames merger delay for 3,000 job cuts

Sun estimates the layoffs will cost between $75m and $125m

Sun Microsystems has revealed in a regulatory filing that delays in its proposed merger with Oracle will force it to cut 3,000 jobs over the next 12 months.

The Form 8K filing (PDF) with the US Securities and Exchange Commission said that Sun will make the cuts in all geographical areas, and that it expects the layoffs to cost between $75m and $125m (£45m and £75m).

"The board of directors of Sun Microsystems, in light of the delay in the closing of the acquisition of the company, approved a plan to better align the company's resources with its strategic business objectives, including reducing its workforce across the North America, EMEA, APAC and Emerging Markets regions by up to 3,000 employees over the next 12 months," said the filing.

Sun claimed that the cuts are down to a delay by the European Union in approving the merger. Oracle had already warned that any delay would hurt Sun's bottom line, and the company has reported heavy losses in the past two quarters.

These are not the first job cuts for the troubled company. Sun laid off 6,000 staff in November in an effort to cut costs and improve efficiency.

Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison used a keynote address at last week's Oracle OpenWorld 2009 to reassert his firm's commitment to Sun and its portfolio. Ellison guaranteed that Oracle would spend more developing Sun's core technologies of Sparc, Solaris, MySQL and Java than Sun had.