Citrix Cuts 1,000 Jobs

Software company Citrix announced Tuesday its plan to layoff 1,000 full-time and contract employees and to create a separate company for its GoToMeeting business. Without specifying which positions are at risk, most of the layoffs will happen this month and in January 2016, Citrix said.

According to Bob Calderoni, interim CEO, president, and executive chair, “We are simplifying our business in all areas — product, marketing, sales, operations, and development.” Although no sites for the layoffs have been named, a local Citrix employee said there have been few at the company’s Goleta office — most have occurred elsewhere, at the Florida-based company’s other national and international subsidiaries. A company spokesperson said less than five Santa Barbara-area employees were laid off.

For the past ten years, the Goleta-based GoToMeeting business has provided video conferencing software to assist companies with long-distance business meetings. The 1,000 layoffs exclude the spinoff of GoToMeeting, a process that can take six months to a year. Once complete, GoTo will be an independent public company with its own leadership. According to a company press release, Chris Hylen, current senior vice president of Citrix’s Mobility Apps Business Unit, will serve as CEO of the new business.

Despite what Citrix calls a “realignment of resources,” at least at its Goleta offices, “the feeling isn’t that this is a crisis,” said one employee. Rather, the general feeling is one of hope, as the company’s Goleta location will now have more freedom to operate and innovate independently when GoToMeeting becomes its own business.