UK-based-test equipment and monitoring systems maker Spirent Communications cuts its local engineering workforce. The company did not disclose how many staff have been laid off, though there have been reports that almost half the company’s Ottawa employees – about 65 as of last November – have lost their jobs. Spirent has shown some instability of late, ousting former chairman John Weston and more than half its board in December, a move that saw two directors resign in protest. Then, in March, CEO Anders Gustafsson left the company. Spirent says its Ottawa location will continue to offer support services but will no longer be a key R&D centre.