rod@venera.isi.edu (Rodney Doyle Van Meter III) (10/04/89)
Monday was a bad day for many Americans in the computer business. Zenith agreed to sell its computer busniess to Groupe Bull, a leading French hi-tech company, in a deal worth $635 million. No word on how the computer arm itself would be affected, though one person was quoted as saying Zenith made the right move, and in six months probably would not have been able to sell the computer business at all. Cray Research, IBM, and Motorola all announced work force cutbacks. Cray's cutbacks were layoffs of about 400 people (7% of their total workforce), all at its Wisconsin manufacturing plant, because of slowing sales. Motorola is reducing its workforce by about 2.4%, or 2,500, mostly from its U.S.-based communications and semiconductor products operations. Motorola hopes the reduction can be achieved through voluntary severance and attrition, though some layoffs may be necessary. IBM confirmed that it has offered voluntary severance at four locations, and expects 600 to 1,000 workers to accept. It's probably not their last layoff, though it's the third in recent years. Honeywell is selling its 50% stake in HNSX Supercomputers Inc. to its joint venture partner, NEC Corp. The company has made only a few sales, none to U.S. buyers, where pressure to buy American supercomputers is high. How's that for a good day? --Rod
mac@uvacs.cs.Virginia.EDU (Alex Colvin) (10/04/89)
(not exactly an architecture issue, but...) what is the relation of Machines Bull to Honeywell? Who makes the Honeywell mainframe line (635...DPS/8) now? NEC? GE? Did Multics die the real death? ...and how about them MIPs?
davidsen@crdos1.crd.ge.COM (Wm E Davidsen Jr) (10/04/89)
In article <9984@venera.isi.edu>, rod@venera.isi.edu (Rodney Doyle Van Meter III) writes: | IBM confirmed that it has offered voluntary severance at four | locations, and expects 600 to 1,000 workers to accept. It's probably | not their last layoff, though it's the third in recent years. There were some additional details in one of the papers. The incentive is 1 week pay for every six months service. And it said the offer was not being made to engineers or programmers. Does that mean they are not being layed off or that they have no choice and get no fancy severance package? -- bill davidsen (davidsen@crdos1.crd.GE.COM -or- uunet!crdgw1!crdos1!davidsen) "The world is filled with fools. They blindly follow their so-called 'reason' in the face of the church and common sense. Any fool can see that the world is flat!" - anon
duncan@dduck.ctt.bellcore.com (Scott Duncan) (10/05/89)
In article <9984@venera.isi.edu> rod@venera.isi.edu (Rodney Doyle Van Meter III) writes: > >Monday was a bad day for many Americans in the computer business. > >Zenith >Cray Research, IBM, and Motorola all announced work force cutbacks. >Honeywell is selling its 50% stake in HNSX Supercomputers Inc. to its I had heard about the IBM and Motorola announcements, but not Zenith, Cray, and Honeywell. While watching the local P{hiladelphia area news, I saw an announcement of layoffs by Unisys from some Southeastern Pennsylvania locations as well as relocation of people from the same area to Iowa. Speaking only for myself, of course, I am... Scott P. Duncan (duncan@ctt.bellcore.com OR ...!bellcore!ctt!duncan) (Bellcore, 444 Hoes Lane RRC 1H-210, Piscataway, NJ 08854) (201-699-3910 (w) 609-737-2945 (h))
philf@xymox.metaphor.com (Phil Fernandez) (10/07/89)
In article <422@uvacs.cs.Virginia.EDU> mac@uvacs.cs.Virginia.EDU (Alex Colvin) writes: >what is the relation of Machines Bull to Honeywell? Who makes the Honeywell >mainframe line (635...DPS/8) now? NEC? GE? Did Multics die the real death? >...and how about them MIPs? I'm embarassed I know this..I used to do GCOS systems programming for a living. The "Honeywell" mainframes are now made by a company owned approximately 1/3 by Groupe Bull of France, 1/3 by NEC, and 1/3 by Honeywell. The DoD required the 1/3 Honeywell (US company) ownership since DoD is the main consumer of Honeywell iron. The company operates under the Bull name. The current model line is the DPS-90, designed by NEC I think. pmf +-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------+ | Phil Fernandez | philf@metaphor.com | | | ...!{apple|decwrl}!metaphor!philf | | Metaphor Computer Systems |"Does the body rule the mind, or does the mind| | Mountain View, CA | rule the body? I dunno..." - Morrissey | +-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------+