Japanese media predicts job cuts at Sony
posted Monday, April 9, 2012 at 6:13 PM EDT
Just two weeks after Sony announced major changes to its upper management and a restructuring that refocuses its businesses on digital imaging, gaming, and mobile technologies, reports are surfacing that the company plans to shed some 10,000 jobs over the next year or two.
Japanese newspaper Nikkei broke the story, which has subsequently been reported by a variety of other sources including the International Business Times and the Wall Street Journal, although the reported timeframe for the cuts varies; IB Times predicts cuts around year's end, while the WSJ report suggests that the axe could fall as late as March 2014.
Regardless of the time frame, the size of the cuts is significant at some 6% of the company's total workforce. That said, at least some portion of this will come in the form of spinoffs and business sales that have previously been forecast. Some 5,000 jobs will be pruned by selling a chemical products business, and transferring a small / mid-size LCD panel business into a new government-backed venture.