Citing “continued challenging economic conditions,” Internet consultant Vianthas fired 116 workers, according to a
filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The job cuts will be completed by year’s end and will affect all six offices. In addition to its Boston headquarters, Viant has a presence in Atlanta, Chicago, London,
Los Angeles and New York.
This latest round of cuts will leave the firm with only 200 people — a shadow of its former self. Since December, the firm closed offices in Houston, Munich and San
Francisco, and eliminated more than 500 jobs.
It has also endured the
departure of executuves including COO Ben Levitan.
Like its sector-mates, Digitasand iXL, Viant has never totally recovered from last
year’s dot-com meldown.
With dot-com customers bankrupt, consultants raced to replace income by convincing Fortune 2000 companies to put business processes
online, but for some the transition has not come soon enough.
Earlier this week, Digitas slashed 20 percent of its jobs and closed its Hong Kong office.
Perhaps hoping to reassure its remaining investors, Viant said it still had more than $140 million in cash and cash equivalents as of Sept. 30. The company is
expected to give more details on the job cuts and its future outlook during a earnings conference call Oct. 30.
Shares of VIAN opened down 0.0275, or 2 percent, to 1.13 on Monday. In the last 52 weeks, the issue has ranged from 1.07 to 7.