Seagate Axes CEO, COO, and 800 Jobs

Seagate has announced it is replacing its chief executive and chief operating officer...and laying of 10 percent of its U.S. workforce.

Storage developer Seagate Technologies has unexpectedly announced the immediate departures of both its chief executive officer William Watkins and Dave Wickersham, president and chief operating officer, effective immediately. The company also announced it plans to cut about 10 percent of its U.S. workforce, which would amount to about 800 positions. Worldwide, the company employes about 53,000 people.

Company chairman Stephen J. Luczo will take over Seagate’s CEO position; Luczo is a familiar face to Seagate investors, since he previously served as Seagate’s CEO from 1998 until 2004, during which time he guided the company through a difficult restructuring. Seagate says Watkins and Luzco will work together to ensure a smooth transition, and that the two will talk about what role, if any, Watkins will have with the company going forward.

Wickersham’s COO position will be taken over by Robert Whitemore, current Seagate executive VP and chief technology officer.

Seagate offered no reasons for the departure of its top two executives. However, Seagate has recently warned investors that results for its second fiscal quarter will come in about $500 million under expectations, and its stock price has declined more than 80 percent in the last year. Seagate has also struggled to keep up with competitors like Western Digital that have rapidly been integrating new technologies into their storage products.

Seagate is the world’s largest maker of hard disk drives; however, the global economic meltdown has seriously impacted the company’s revenues as businesses, enterprises, and consumers put off information technology purchases.