Data#3 has reshuffled its worker base in the past year and is setting itself up for a better than expected next half despite continued market volatility.
The integrator made a “small amount” of redundancies in the first few months of 2012 affecting services and support staff in its professional services and products business. This was a result of a decline in project revenues, Data#3 managing director John Grant told CRN.
The loss of headcount was somewhat matched by an increase in overall staff during the year, he said, with its headcount growing to 648 at the end of the year, compared to 638 from the previous year.
Grant said this was the second time in the company’s history it had made redundancies.
“It’s nothing we take lightly, and with those that are made redundant, we work to get them placed elsewhere in the market,” he said.
“We’re operating in reasonably uncertain times, and all businesses are appropriately reviewing their workforce on an ongoing basis. Everyone is reluctant to get into the position where they have to make redundancies and we want to avoid that in the future.”
Data#3’s people solutions business saw a decline in contractors, from 352 to 240, as a result of customers moving away from contracted workers to permanent staff.
Grant said the increase in permanent staff had matched the drop in contractors, and had helped to increase the revenue of that business unit 8 percent to $41 million.
He said Data#3 was preparing for a better than expected first half of FY2013, despite previously forecasting a result below that of the first half of FY12.
“We don’t think it’ll differ materially from last year’s first half, and that will be an exceptionally good outcome, because we’ve taken on high costs in terms of investment and premises, and we’ve had a bit of revenue shifting after Microsoft changed its licensing rules,” Grant said.
“So if we can get a good outcome that’s better than our plans and similar to last year’s first half that will be a great result.”
Data#3 this year refurbished its North Sydney and Southbank, Melbourne offices, and will do the same to its Adelaide and Perth offices over the coming year, at an expected cost of $9 million.
The company suffered a drop in net profit for its fiscal year 2012 but a rise in revenue. It recorded net profit of $13.7 million, and 8.8 percent drop, and a record 16.3 percent jump in revenue to $811.4 million - the first time the company’s revenue exceeded $800 million.
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