New year, new jobs for a "small" number of VMware employees, as the company confirmed it laid off some folks this week.

"We can confirm that there has been a small reduction in force at VMware this week," a VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) spokesperson said in an email statement. "Work force rebalancing is a continual activity across VMware's businesses and geographies to ensure that resources are aligned with business objectives and customer needs."

Even with the layoffs, VMware is also hiring.

"We continue to recruit in areas of strategic importance for the company," the spokesperson said, adding, "There are hundreds of roles currently posted on careers.vmware.com."

Total headcount at VMware as of November is 21,557.

Figure 1:

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VMware laid off 800 people two years ago. (See VMware Announces 800 Layoffs, Executive Shake-Up.)

VMware is shifting its focus from the on-premises enterprise data center to the cloud. Two years ago, VMware was a data center infrastructure company with an additional cloud business; now it focuses on cloud and mobility, providing services to enterprises looking to unite on-premises infrastructure with multiple public clouds. (See Following Amazon Partnership, VMware Is a Cloud Company Now.)

Dell Technologies owns a majority stake in VMware; Dell saw a $533 million operating loss in its most recent quarter. (See Dell Technologies Posts Smaller Q3 Loss.)

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— Mitch Wagner Editor, Enterprise Cloud News