Alterian lays off 75

As Obama's "Recovery Summer" enters its second winter, we learn that consumer marketing services provider Alterian will close its Chicago office.  As a result, 75 consumer marketing professionals will join the army of the unemployed.

The London-based CRM company's restructuring follows a poor fiscal 2011. Alterian's revenue decreased from $53.3 million in the 2010 fiscal year, which ended March 31 of that year, to $52 million in the 2011 fiscal year.

As part of the restructuring plan, Alterian will make “substantial cuts to its operational cost base and initiated reviews of revenue recognition, and goodwill and other intangible assets,” the company said in an Oct. 27 investor statement. The company identified $14.3 million in operating cost cuts.

Part of the cost-savings plan includes reducing the staff from 450 employees worldwide to approximately 260, the company said in the statement. The company would not confirm whether the Chicago office closing is part of this strategy.

Alterian is currently in takeover talks with  British software shop SDL.  As the world's consumer markets flounder, the market analytics function is becoming just another generic web application.