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SAN JOSE — Business software maker BEA Systems Inc. said Thursday it will lay off about 300 employees, or about 10 percent of its work force, by year’s end, joining the long list of Silicon Valley firms that have trimmed payrolls to offset declining sales. 

The San Jose-based company revealed the cutbacks in an announcement warning that its profit for the quarter ended Oct. 31 will fall shy of Wall Street expectations. BEA said its earnings from operations will be 5 or 6 cents per share, below the consensus estimate of 8 cents per share among analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call. 

Until the tech slump of the past year, BEA was one of Silicon Valley’s fastest growing companies. It provides a software platform that helps run applications more quickly and smoothly. 

BEA will record a charge of $15 million to $20 million to cover severance pay and other costs incurred in the layoffs. The company also said it will absorb a $110 million charge to account for the diminished value of past acquisitions and investments.