VisualSoft lay off 40 software professionals

In its bid to cope with the ongoing downturn in the US economy, Hyderabad based VisualSoft technologies has retrenched 40 software professionals belonging to its software products division. "The company has taken this step so as to reduce the cost overload and strengthen itself in areas favorable to the current market scenario. The company informed those people about the retrenchment process about three months back," informed sources close to the company.

Unlike some previous recessions, the current US slowdown seems to have been caused not by reluctant consumers, but by a sudden slump in company spending. During the boom years, many US firms invested heavily in information technology systems. A large chunk of this was financed by borrowing, but these investments were based on very optimistic forecasts for US economic growth.

But when the dot-com bubble on the stock markets burst, and some experts began to downgrade their optimistic forecasts, companies realized that they needed to cut back on their investment. For the last six months, many businesses have been dramatically scaling down their investment plans for the coming year.

The first to feel the effects of the slowdown in company investment were high-tech firms who supply equipment to companies. They were forced to cut back production, but many were left with surplus inventories that they had to sell fast and at low prices. This hit their profits and in order to preserve their profit margins, they had to cut back on expenses and lay-off workers, which had a further effect on confidence.

VisualSoft Technologies is a Hyderabad based software products and solutions company. The company helps organizations worldwide maximize the value of their IT investments and gain a competitive edge in their business.

VisualSoft provides total solutions to help businesses address their infrastructure, strategic, information, commercial and security objectives. VisualSoft offers solutions and services in the following segments - e-Business, Business Intelligence, Security, ASP Services and e-Reengineering Enterprise Solutions.

(CNS)