Sun Microsystems announced today that it will cut 5,000 to 6,000 jobs to align its costs to deal with the venerable economy. It will be one of the largest tech layoffs this year.

Sun said the layoffs announced today should allow the company to reduce annual costs by $700 million to $800 million, starting in its next full quarter. But it also said it will incur one-time costs of $500 million to $600 million as a result of the layoffs over the next 12 months.

The cuts at Sun had been predicted by some analysts, who were expecting the company to announce significant moves to shore up its business, especially after a Tennessee investment firm recently disclosed that it had bought 21 percent of Sun’s stock. Representatives of Southeastern Asset Management said last month that they planned to have discussions with Sun “and/or third parties” about improving the stock value.

Sun Microsystems is one of several computing companies suffering as companies and individuals spend less on computers. Companies have been forced to cut prices to compete for business as consumers’ purse strings tighten. Earlier this year, Dell announced it would sack 8,800 people.

And Dave Douglas will head a Cloud Computing & Developer Platform division, with cloud-based services including NetBeans and StarOffice.

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