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Recent personnel shifts at stealthy router startup Procket Networks Inc. signal that a change in product strategy could be close at hand.
Two days ago, sources say, the company canned roughly 20 staffers, most believed to be engineers, along with up to 30 contract workers. While Procket admits that some employees were let go, it would not give exact numbers. A company spokesperson was also careful not to call the incident a layoff.
“It’s not true; we didn’t have a layoff,” says Suzanne Panopolos, director of marketing for Procket. “We’ve done a workforce realignment. Some people’s skill set didn’t match our plan, and they were managed out. But I wouldn’t call it a layoff. In fact, we are still hiring.”
The realignment and personnel shifts lend credence to the rumor that Procket is shifting its product strategy. Instead of building a core router, the company is now building an edge router, say several venture capital and financial sources.
I interviewed at Procket a few months ago, and I wasn’t impressed.