Varolii cuts 8 percent of staff |
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Varolii cuts 8 percent of staff
More layoffs are rippling through Seattle's tech community. The latest is Varolii. The Seattle-based software company laid off 8 percent of its staff yesterday.
Spokeswoman Robin Rees said many of the laid-off employees were in finance and administration, an area where Varolii had beefed up after it filed for an initial public offering in Sept. 2007. Varolii withdrew its IPO registration last June.
"Times are tough. You're looking at ways you can cut costs and tighten your belt," Rees said. "That said, we chose to look at where did it make the most sense to do these cuts, where would it impact our business the least, and what key positions would help us to emerge from this recession, when it ends, at a good place."
Rees declined to specify the exact number of layoffs. She said Varolii employs more than 300 people following the cuts.
Varolii makes software that runs automated voice, text and email notification systems for airlines, utilities, financial companies, and others.
During the winter storms that blanketed much of the country, including the Seattle area, a few weeks ago, Varolii told TechFlash that it had experienced a spike in volume as airlines rushed to alert passengers to flight delays and cancellations.
Rees said Varolii has 375 customers and expects to continue to grow.
"We still expect to grow in 2009 in both people and revenue," she said. "We still have a few key positions we're hiring for. We believe revenue will continue to grow in 2009."
Rees did not provide Varolii's 2008 revenue. The company reported revenue of $68 million in 2007, up from $51 million in the previous year.
Varolii is the latest Seattle tech company to cut staff. WatchGuard and Attachmate recently trimmed their payrolls.
About John Cook
John Cook is co-founder and executive editor of TechFlash. He has been covering the technology beat for nearly a decade, writing about startups, entrepreneurs and venture capital, most recently serving as a reporter/blogger at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
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