Wireless Ronin had 160 people???

November 3, 2008 by Dave Haynes

News that Wireless Ronin has chosen to trim staff is hardly earth-shattering or surprising, as I doubt there are many companies out there, regardless of industry, who aren’t looking at their general ledgers and pondering some hard decisions around staffing. Except maybe credit counselling companies.

What rattled me is that after having to unfortunately cut 35 people loose, they still have 125 people described as staff and contractors.

The reduction is intended to align the company’s expense base with the current level of sales and projects and improve the overall efficiency of the organization, says a press release. The workforce reduction was implemented across all areas of the organization, including sales and marketing, product development, project management and administrative functions. After the workforce reduction, the employee and contractor base now totals 125.

Steve Birke, interim chief executive officer for Wireless Ronin, said, “As a result of the continuation of a sluggish economy, Wireless Ronin has re-evaluated its business infrastructure. The workforce reduction reflects Wireless Ronin’s efforts to match its cost structure and internal resources with its sales levels and project commitments.” 

Most of the companies in this space are far smaller, and work with partner companies in various ways to offer whatever they spin as a turnkey, front-to-back, cradle to grave or whatever solution. Apparently Ronin had/has it in-house.

Wow.  

I wish the folks who had to to pack up all the best. It’s a tight market right now, but there does still seem to be lots of activity around. The people who’ve developed a passion for this space will be OK.