Control Data Trims Loss, Will Reduce Work Force

Control Data Corp. of Minneapolis, still struggling to return its computer business to profitability, said Thursday that it lost $9.3 million in the third quarter and expects to reduce its work force by 5,000 this year.

The computer maker said the work force reductions will “tend to have a short-term adverse impact on the results of operations.”

Control Data has previously said it plans to lower the size of its labor force this year but has not identified the size of those reductions, a spokeswoman said. The move may involve layoffs, she said.

Control Data has taken a number of steps to eliminate its losses, which this quarter were much smaller than the $256 million lost in the third quarter of 1985.

Last year, Control Data cut its work force by about 10,000 through layoffs, attrition, divestitures and retirements.

Control Data said its revenue for the quarter fell to $819 million from $895 million for the same quarter last year.