SAGE OFFERS U.K. BUYOUT

Mum is the word at Newcastle Great Park, Gosforth, the British headquarters of the Sage Group. An April 10 article by Paul James in the Journal Online which covers the Newcastle area, said the company offered buy outs to 2,200 U.K. workers, 1,600 of whom operate at HQ. Many typical administrative and back-office jobs are involved. As reported in the article the letter was "offering Sage people the opportunity to take voluntary redundancy that's incentivised as a way to minimise the risk of future compulsory redundancies." The deadline is April 17. Since management was going to consult with workers' representatives, it would seem likely more information will leak out. There's no official word on the Sage press Web site and no indication this applies to the United States. A spokesperson for Sage North America said it was a purely British issue.