We were warned.
Two weeks ago, NetApp said it would cut up to 12% of its workforce, or about 1,500 employees. On Tuesday, the ax has started to fall at the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based storage maker, according to several anonymous postings on the blog, TheLayoff.
In a statement emailed to Fortune, NetApp CEO George Kurian said:
NetApp is transforming as a company to be more focused, efficient, and effective. Part of that transformation will impact people, which is a difficult, but necessary, step in permanently realigning our cost structure and enabling us to respond to the rapidly changing IT market and economy. We are responsible for balancing business realities, shareholder expectations, and financial results. I believe that by coupling the strength of our Data Fabric strategy, our leadership position in the fastest growing parts of the storage market with the benefits of a more streamlined NetApp, we can increase our value to customers, partners, employees, and shareholders.
The cuts also come two months after NetApp disclosed plans to acquire flash storage provider Solidfire for $870 million in cash.
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Flash technology has been a hot segment in data storage. But other macro trends—such as the burgeoning use of public cloud storage from Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), Google (GOOG) and others— is impacting traditional storage players, including market leader EMC and NetApp.
Late last year, EMC (EMC) also disclosed a $250 million restructuring plan that will include layoffs.