Sun Microsystems’ board of directors has signed off on a company plan to return to profitability that will include between 4,000 to 5,000 layoffs in the next six months, the company said Wednesday.Sun, which has never fully recovered from the dot-com bust, has posted a string of losses or near break-even results over the past five years. For its most recent quarter, the company reported a loss of US$217 million. Sun said it will cut about 11 percent to 13 percent of its workforce, or about 4,000 to 5,000 employees, over the next six months. It will also sell off its campuses in Newark, N.J., and Sunnyvale, Calif., while retaining its operations in Menlo Park and Santa Clara, Calif. From those actions, Sun expects annual savings of between $480 million and $590 million and to incur restructuring charges between $340 million and $500 million. The charges will be spread out over the next several quarters, but the majority will be incurred in the quarter that ends June 30, 2006, the company said. Sun’s board also approved the company’s operational goals, which include fourth-quarter operating income of at least 4 percent of revenue and longer-term operating income of at least 10 percent of revenue. The operating income and expense expectations exclude restructuring charges, but include charges related to stock-based compensation and amortization of purchased intangibles.Other goals for the company include revenue growth in the low-to-middle single digits, gross margin of about 43 percent and operating expenses of about $5.6 billion to $6 billion for fiscal 2007. Sun’s fiscal year begins July 1. The move comes on the heels of one of the first major executive realignments at Sun since Jonathan Schwartz stepped in as chief executive officer in April, replacing cofounder Scott McNealy, who is still chairman. Sun last month combined its Sparc and x64-based server groups under one umbrella group, now called the Systems Group, and tapped John Fowler as executive vice president of the new group. Fowler formerly headed up the group responsible for Sun’s x64-based servers that use Advanced Micro Devices Opteron processors. David Yen, formerly executive vice president of Sun’s former Scalable Systems Group—which managed the company’s Sparc-based servers—will now serve as executive vice president of Sun’s storage group. As part of the shake-up, Mark Canepa, who has been with Sun for a decade and most recently headed up Sun’s storage group, is leaving the company.-Shelley Solheim, IDG News ServiceCheck out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content brandpost Sponsored by Palo Alto Networks Operational technology systems require a robust Zero Trust strategy in 2024 Zero Trust provides a foundation for creating a stronger security posture in 2024. By Navneet Singh, vice president of marketing, network security, Palo Alto Networks Dec 05, 2023 6 mins Security brandpost Sponsored by AWS in collaboration with IBM How digital twin technology is changing complex industrial processes forever As the use cases for digital twins proliferate, it is becoming clear that data-driven enterprises with a track record of innovation stand the best chance of success. By Laura McEwan Dec 05, 2023 4 mins Digital Transformation brandpost Sponsored by AWS in collaboration with IBM Why modernising applications needs to be a ‘must’ for businesses seeking growth Around one-third of enterprises are spending heavily on application modernisation and aiming for cloud native status. The implications for corporate culture, structure and priorities will be profound. By Laura McEwan Dec 05, 2023 5 mins Digital Transformation opinion 11 ways to reduce your IT costs now Reorienting IT’s budget toward future opportunities is a big reason why CIOs should review their IT portfolios with an eye toward curbing unnecessary spending and realizing maximum value from every IT investment. By Stephanie Overby Dec 05, 2023 11 mins Budget Cloud Management IT Governance Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe