US-based security software firm, Symantec, has decided to shut one of its Australian software engineering units, with the loss of between 45 and 55 jobs in North Sydney.

 

According to an article in The Australian,  the decision was sparked by the rise in the dollar against the greenback over the past seven months. The report says that of a staff of about 60, around 20 developers will be retained in Symantec’s consumer R&D division as employees of PC Tools, an Australian-based company that Symantec bought in 2008. The retrenched staff  are primarily software coders employed by software firm Altiris before Symantec bought its global operations in 2007.

 

The Australian reports that the work will be outsourced to India and to Talin in Estonia where Altiris has operations.