Commerce One lays off another third

By Alorie Gilbert

Ebusiness software maker Commerce One said on Friday that it plans to cut 400 jobs, or 36 per cent of it staff, by the end of the year to reduce costs.

The ailing firm, once a star of the business software industry, has over the past year cut nearly 70 per cent of its staff in several rounds of layoffs. It issued profit warnings earlier this year and completed a 1-for-10 reverse stock split in September after its shares slipped below $1 for several months.

Commerce One fell on hard times after pinning its business on so-called e-marketplaces, which are virtual trading posts where companies were supposed to buy and sell all kinds of business supplies. E-marketplaces never materialised the way companies like Commerce One, Ariba and VerticalNet had predicted.

PurchasePro, another e-marketplace evangelist, filed for bankruptcy protection last month and agreed to sell its assets to privately held software maker Perfect Commerce.

Alorie Gilbert writes for CNET News.com.