Compaq no Father Christmas as Alpha layoffs rise

Sources told The Register late today that Compaq will use the Christmas period to lay off a number of former DEC employees worldwide. According to our reliable source, Compaq may end its financial year of 1998 on an upbeat note. But Digital Classic layoffs are 16 per cent across the board, helping Compaq's bottom line. There are exceptions. The VMS group will lay off forty employees -- an eight per cent cut -- because Digital sent its NT Cluster file system and the rest to the little imp of software (Microsoft). Compaq's engineering facility, in Edinburgh, shut down because of the transfer. ®