Note: I previously have shared this message with WD’s senior leaders. In the interest of transparency in communications, this is one of a series of messages that you will be seeing over the next few weeks from me, and from other WD leaders as we navigate through this time of turbulent markets and business challenges.
WD Team,
If you listened to or attended the recent WD all-hands meeting, you’ll recall that Cindi Grace, Jim Welsh, and I discussed the challenging market conditions we continue to face. These conditions have resulted in a downturn in our business that happened more quickly than anyone had anticipated.
We also highlighted that the PC market will continue to be difficult, that we need to accelerate our shingled magnetic recording (SMR) products, and that we need to create an “emotional connection” to MyCloud for our market. But most importantly, we must diligently protect our core HDD business.
Actions we’ve taken to protect our core business have included closely scrutinizing and then reducing our Operating Expense (OpEx) costs over the past months, streamlining our roadmaps, and investing in strategic growth areas. Ultimately, the culmination of these changes has required reallocating some teams to focus on new priorities, and unfortunately, eliminating some positions. Some of these actions already have occurred within the Content Solutions group. In the U.S. and APAC, additional actions will occur over the next few weeks, while actions in Asia factories should be completed by mid-October.
I know that adjustments such as these can be a source of anxiety for employees, and I want you to understand that at this time, there are no other cost-effective or timely alternatives that will yield the needed result. Please know that these are not easy decisions, but it is important for us to manage staffing levels consistent with the realities of our business. These changes are being made to ensure long-term organizational health for our employees, and for our shareholders, and to enable us to remain the leader in our industry.
We have fought through strong headwinds before, and I’m confident that as a team, we will make it through this difficult and challenging time.