Brocade Shaves Heads

Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: BRCD) has laid off 25 hardware engineers in an effort to "streamline operational efficiencies."

Spokeswoman Leslie Davis confirmed today that Brocade eliminated the positions recently at its headquarters in San Jose, Calif., in an effort to better match up personnel with work at hand. Davis says it's not an expense reduction effort, per se. The reduction affected less than 2 percent of Brocade's total headcount, which stands at about 1,230 post-cuts.

Brocade's action follows a similar move by rival McData Corp. (Nasdaq: MCDTA) last week (see McData McDownsized). That company, however, cut about 9 percent of staff.

Brocade plans to announce its quarterly financials on February 11. While Davis says she can't comment on the possibility of future cuts, there is "nothing anticipated" in terms of further layoffs, she says.

Brocade had a larger layoff last April when it chopped 115 employees, or 9 percent of its workforce. The company took a $10.9 million charge for restructuring and severance for that quarter (see Brocade Chops More Heads and Brocade Hit With Q2 Loss).