Slowing spending on information systems has hit employees at the country's listed technology firms as workforces are trimmed to try to lower costs. Echoing the carnage seen worldwide, leading names in Australia's industry have shed hundreds of jobs as they brace for a long slump in investment in new computing products and services. The scale of the job cuts is generally smaller than the 10 to 20 per cent started at global corporations such as Sony, Motorola, eBay and Sun Microsystems, but prospects for a return to employment growth in the sector remain slim. Firms that confirmed reductions in full-time and contract employee numbers during the interim reporting period included Clarius, SMS Management &