Red Hat Lays Off, Scales Back

A major distributors of Linux-based software,
Red Hat Inc., is reportedly closing its San
Francisco office and two European offices, and laying off about
20 employees.

A report by Wired News said staffers learned of the move Monday
and some of them have been offered jobs at other Red Hat
locations. Unconfirmed reports suggested that the lay-offs were
due to nine recent acquisitions which caused redundancy in some
job categories.

Reportedly, seven of the pink slips were issued to workers in
San Francisco, an office Red Hat acquired when it annexed Atomic
Vision. Some staffers were believed headed to positions in the
Sunnyvale and Oakland, Calif. offices.

An unconfirmed report also stated that Red Hat closed a
15-staff office in Newbury, England, and a smaller bureau in
Cagnes-sur-Mer, France. Employees working in those offices will
reportedly be transferred to Red Hat sites in Surrey, England
and Paris, France, leaving the company with 12 offices
worldwide.