Juniper Networks (JNPR) said during its fourth quarter earnings call that it wants to “right-size,” and now it looks as if that may mean significant layoffs. The Silicon Valley network equipment maker is preparing to cut as many as 800 jobs, or about 8% of its workforce, according to SDN Central.
These layoffs would follow 240 job cuts made during the December quarter. The company has been under pressure to trim costs as its stock price has lagged the broader indices. Some investors see the stock as undervalued, given the robust demand for telecom and wireless equipment. Hedge fund Jana Partners has reportedly encouraged Juniper to take a hard look at management compensation as one possible way to reduce overhead.
In 2013 two thirds of Juniper’s revenue came from service providers, and one third from enterprise. 75% of company revenue came from products, 25% from services. Total revenue was $4.7 billion, and net income was $440 million.
Juniper makes routers, switches, services gateways as well as network management platforms and software tools for provisioning mobile backhaul. The company was founded 20 years ago by Pradeep Sindhu, currently its chief technical officer and vice chairman of the board. Juniper’s current CEO is Shaygan Kheradpir, who came to the company last year from Barclay’s PLC.
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