Sun Microsystems will fire up to 5,000 workers this year, as the company tries to cut costs and make it easier to post quarterly profits.

All told, Sun expects to cleave off between 11 per cent and 13 per cent of its 37,500 person workforce. The firings mark the first mass layoff to take place under new CEO Jonathan Schwartz. Sun has historically been reluctant to let go of staff, despite Wall Street's constant calls to trim costs via layoffs.

Sun did not specify which internal organizations or regions would be hardest hit by the firings. The need for these cuts, however, can be traced to Sun's $4bn StorageTek acquisition that left the company with a swollen workforce.

Read the full story (The Register)