San Francisco, Jan 11 (IANS): Desktop virtualisation company Citrix Systems has started widespread layoffs, with thousands of employees being handed over pink slips, the media reported.

Cloud Software Group (CSG), the parent company of cloud vendor Citrix and enterprise applications vendor Tibco, began layoffs in a 'brutal' way, starting Tuesday, CRN reported citing sources.

"It's a terrible day, with a lot of good Citrix employees with families and kids leaving the company. This is brutal," the source was quoted as saying in the report.

The layoffs hit Citrix's commercial sales organisation as well as some channel-facing employees.

Several laid off employees took to LinkedIn to share their woes.

"Like so many others at Citrix, I was caught up in today's massive restructuring. I have been associated with Citrix for the past 22 years, either as a full time sales engineer or contract master instructor. I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything," posted Mark Simmons, lead NetScaler sales engineer at Citrix.

"Best of luck to all of my colleagues caught up in today's layoffs. This is not the end, but merely a transition," he added.

Shawn Hohn, a territory manager for Citrix, said that "unfortunately, I have been one of the many impacted by the layoffs at Citrix this morning".

"If you or anyone in your network have any open roles in Account Management or Inside sides, please reach out! Thank you in advance for any connections, advice, or opportunities that you can share," posted Hohn.

Cloud Software Group (CSG) or Citrix was yet to comment.

Citrix Systems was acquired by Vista Equity Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital for $16.5 billion, and combined with data integration and analysis software developer Tibco Software, creating a new parent organisation, CSG.