Following a workforce reduction of 117 staff members earlier this month, Gartner confirmed this week that it would cancel this year's Spring Symposium/ITxpo events in Las Vegas and Barcelona.

"While a number of factors influenced this decision, the primary reason for the change is the current macro economic environment and its anticipated impact on attendee travel and overall event attendance," a Gartner spokesman stated in an e-mail to Network World. Gartner indicated it will go ahead with plans around fall events at this time.

The research firm last week announced it would begin to cut staff as part of its "efforts to manage operating expenses." The positions were said to consist primarily of "non-quota bearing and non-client facing functions." Gartner stated in Form 8-K it filed last week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission it would complete notifications to affected employees by Jan. 12, 2009.

Similar news quietly began to emerge from fellow industry watch groups this week. According to public reports, AMR Research confirmed it would cut its workforce by 10%. Analyst consulting firm SageCircle also posted on its reports of layoffs at Aberdeen Group. "SageCircle has received credible intelligence that Aberdeen Group initiated a job action resulting in analyst layoffs," the blog states.