Lawson Software Inc. of St. Paul said Friday that it intends to cut 150 to 200 positions in a restructuring, with its European operations absorbing the larger share of the reductions.
Lawson, which makes corporate software, said the labor shakeup also would be felt in its operations in the United States and Philippines.
However the layoffs break down geographically, they will make up less than 5 percent of Lawson's overall workforce, the company said in a news release.
The impact will be "larger in Europe and less so in the other regions," said company spokesman Joe Thornton, who added that the restructuring involves its division that serves the manufacturing sector.
Of Lawson's 3,700 employees around the world, about 800 work in St. Paul.
Lawson said it expects to take a pretax charge of $5 million to $7 million relating to the restructuring.
Increased investment in other parts of the company is expected to yield "planned personnel increases in these areas to approximately offset the workforce reduction by May 31, 2011," the company statement said.
Earlier this week, noted investor Carl Icahn bought an 8.54 percent stake in the company. Icahn, who typically invests in companies he thinks are poorly managed or have potential to be acquired, said in government filings that he thought Lawson's shares were undervalued.
