San Jose, California-based Western Digital, the iconic disk storage manufacturer, is continuing its company-wide” consolidation that began in 2017 when it moved its headquarters from Irvine, California to San Jose and embarked on a strategic move from traditional disk-based storage drives into memory chips to support data centers, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence. There is little doubt that a decline in the desktop computer market and the increasing use of solid-state storage devices affected the company along with increasing market competition.
Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the company is reducing its headcount by 328 employees, with 100 employees located in Irvine, California; 97 employees located in its SanDisk division in Milpitas, California, and 114 employees located in the San Jose, California headquarters.
The latest layoffs include vice presidents across Western Digital's engineering, organizational development and training, business development and talent acquisition units, according to the filings. Most of the roles affected by the layoffs are in engineering and more than 50 of the total roles affected are in R&D, which is an area executives have touted as an important investment area for the company.
Positions include senior management in engineering, organizational development and training, business development, and human resources. More than 50 employees are associated with research and development activities.
Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life, or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere ... are you now wondering, Am I Next?