A source close to the company said the lay-offs occurred on Monday this week, and follows previous staff reductions prior to Christmas. However, a spokesman for the company’s Australian operations told CIN that it has also been actively recruiting for other areas of the business. He said that while the company does not comment on staffing developments in specific locations, he could confirm there have been reductions in Australia and Canada. “But in other areas of the world, they are actually increasing personnel numbers, which reflects the differing economic environments in the [various] parts of the world in which they operate,” he told CIN. “In terms of overall numbers, they do publish an overall headcount number. “On February 25 this year, when they announced their full-year results, the worldwide personnel number was 31,700.” The spokesman said that in the headcount prior to that, which was published in August 2008, the number was 31,400. “So it’s actually gone up by 300,” he said. “Overall, as an organisation they have increased [staff numbers], however some regions have suffered job losses as clients have deferred their projects.”
