Japan’s electronics giant Panasonic yesterday said it aimed to cut its global workforce to 350,000 in two years, a reduction of about 17,000 positions, in a bid to streamline its operations.
It also plans to spend US$1.9 billion over the next two years on restructuring in a drive to increase its global competitiveness.
“We will consider integration and sales of duplicating functions to start the new structure,” the company said in a statement.
The announcement came after Panasonic Electric Works and Sanyo Electric this month became wholly owned units of Osaka-based Panasonic, whose workforce numbered 366,937 at the end of last month.
The planned job cuts will mean roughly a 10 percent reduction from March last year when Panasonic had 384,586 employees.
Panasonic intends to offer voluntary early retirement by the end of the next fiscal year — starting in April — mainly to those working at overseas production bases as well as to employees at its headquarters, local media said.
The company managed to swing back to profit in the year to last month, thanks to brisk sales offsetting the yen’s strength and the impact of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
It reported ¥74.0 billion (US$906 million) in group net profit for the fiscal year, reversing the net loss of ¥103.5 billion a year earlier.
Operating profit surged 60.3 percent to ¥305.3 billion with sales up 17.2 percent at ¥8.69 trillion, it said.
Panasonic gave no forecast for the current fiscal year to March in the wake of the March 11 earthquake.
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