EMC lays off hundreds, denies business downturn

The layoffs, which the company didn't announce publicly, amount to less than 3 percent of EMC's 24,000 employees, said company officials. The move comes as several other high-technology concerns are reducing their work forces in cost-cutting efforts.

But EMC, of Hopkinton, Mass., said its reductions were part of a tough annual-review process by department heads and were based solely on individual performance. EMC cut about 10 percent of its work force in 1995 as part of the same review system.

The company said the firings weren't a reflection of a business downturn.

"We've let people go who are not what we need now," said EMC spokesman Mark Fredrickson. "It's not being done to reduce costs or head count." He added that EMC still intends to add 7,000 to its work force this year and reiterated the company's prediction that 2001 revenue will rise 35 percent to $12 billion. --Jerry Guidera, WSJ Interactive Edition