American software company NortonLifeLock is planning to axe over 140 jobs in two states to cut costs.
According to a report published on December 30 in newspaper Community Impact, the security business plans to lay off 42 employees at their Granite Parkway site in Plano, Texas, in the coming months.
A total of 34 Plano positions are expected to be terminated by mid-January, with an additional eight roles expected to be scrapped by mid-February.
Texas isn't the only state in which NortonLifeLock plans to cut jobs in 2020. The San Francisco Business Times reported on December 31 that roughly 100 NortonLifeLock employees based in California will lose their jobs over the next few months.
Vincent Pilette, CEO of NortonLifeLock, told the newspaper that the company is not only axing jobs but also selling off real estate in a major effort to reduce costs and help drive earnings growth.
Arizona-based NortonLifeLock was previously known as Symantec. The company underwent a rebranding after its enterprise cybersecurity business was acquired by San Jose chipmaker Broadcom for around $11bn in the summer of 2019.
In recent weeks, the Wall Street Journal has reported that NortonLifeLock's cybersecurity rival McAfee may put in a bid to buy the company's consumer business, challenging existing private equity bidders Permira and Advent International.
On August 8, the same day that Broadcom's acquisition of Symantec was publicized, Symantec announced plans to lay off roughly 7 percent of its employees during fiscal year 2020.
At its Mountain View headquarters, 152 jobs were expected to be terminated, along with a further 18 positions in San Francisco and 36 roles in Culver City, Los Angeles County.
The layoffs were expected to have been completed by the end of March 2020, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
NortonLifeLock has more than 11,000 employees worldwide and serves more than 50 million people with Norton antivirus software and LifeLock identity theft protection.
The Chronicle reported in September that the newly acquired Symantec would be closing or downsizing various facilities and data centers at an estimated cost of approximately $100m.