155 Scots jobs lost since Sun takeover by Oracle

The Scottish arm of a US company cut 155 jobs last year as turn-over fell and losses mounted, according to newly-filed accounts.

Sun Microsystems Scotland, based in Linlithgow, was taken over by rival Oracle in January last year, but at the time only a few job losses in administrative roles were expected.

However, Sun's latest directors' report reveals that the average number of employees fell from 447 to 292 in the 11 months to 31 May. Manufacturing jobs tumbled from 329 the year before to 190, while administrative staff fell from 118 to 102.

The company employed more than 800 people in Scotland in 2008. Manufacturing at Linlithgow ceased about two years ago, but the plant still provides a range of support services.

The takeover by Oracle means that Sun's accounting period for 2009-10 was a reduced 11 months, so there are no direct comparisons with the previous full year.

However, the company announced that turnover was down from 39.5 million to 24m. Its losses on ordinary activities before taxation stood at 2.6m for the 11 months to 31 May, compared with 1.7m for the previous year.

Losses after tax for the same period were 2.5m, up from 1.3m. The company's wage bill fell from 33.6m to 19.4m.

In the report, Sun Microsystems said: "Both before and after the acquisition, restructuring took place. This included redundancies that contributed to the operating loss in the period."

The accounts reveal that one director was paid 478,000 in the period "in respect of loss of service".

The highest-paid remaining director, by comparison, was paid 199,000.

Oracle in Scotland employed about 90 at an office in Edinburgh before the takeover, and also announced unspecified job cuts last year.