Layoffs in the tech sector have been coming at us hard and fast lately. From Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) to Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and beyond, the unemployment rolls are swelling. Now, two more companies have stepped in with layoff announcements. NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) and Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) both took steps to cut back their employment figures. The market is taking this in a mixed fashion, with NetApp down very slightly but Workday up somewhat in Tuesday afternoon trading.
Workday’s cuts were comparatively mild, as about 3% of the company’s jobs were up on the block. Workday brass described the cuts as a “…realignment of resources.” Most of the cuts came in product and technology development operations, and they will not only receive three months’ severance pay but also an extra two weeks for every year employed.
NetApp’s cuts, meanwhile, were much more pronounced. NetApp expects to drop roughly 8% of its global workforce and expects that the process will cost roughly between $85 million and $95 million to carry out. NetApp blames an increasingly uncertain macroeconomic picture as well as reduced corporate spending. The planned cuts will be all over the map, including some in the Asia-Pacific region as well as in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa segment.
Interestingly, analyst consensus is fairly positive for both companies. Both NetApp and Workday are considered Moderate Buys. NetApp’s average price target of $76.59 gives its stock an upside potential of 17%. Meanwhile, Workday’s average price target of $203.12 implies upside potential of 13.92%.
