Symantec Workers Losing Jobs in Three California Offices

Ahead of offloading its enterprise security business to Broadcom, Symantec is cutting nearly 200 workers in California as part of a plan announced last month to shed 7% of its workforce.

According to WARN notices filed with the California Employment Development Department, the cybersecurity giant is laying off 177 employees in its Mountain View and San Francisco offices, and 36 employees in its Culver City office. Seven of the workers in Mountain View lost their jobs in August and the rest will be terminated on Oct. 15.

None of the workers are represented by a union. Numerous software development engineers are among the positions being targeted for job cuts.

In August during its first-quarter earnings call, Symantec announced a $100 million restructuring program. As Symantec divests its enterprise business, its workforce will be reduced from about 12,000 employees to about 10,000, said Vincent Pilette, Symantec’s CFO.

Symantec isn’t commenting further on the layoffs.

Broadcom is purchasing Symantec’s enterprise business for $10.7 billion in cash. It previously tried to purchase the entire company but couldn’t reach an agreement. The Symantec-Broadcom deal is expected to close by the end of the year.

In addition, two private equity firms reportedly want to buy the cybersecurity giant’s consumer business for more than $16 billion. Permira and Advent International have proposed a deal to take over Symantec’s consumer business, the Wall Street Journal reported. The consumer unit includes the Norton antivirus and LifeLock identity protection products.