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Sanyo plans to slash jobs, focus on environment

Japanese electronics maker Sanyo said yesterday it will cut 15 percent of its workforce or more than 14,000 jobs in the next three years and refocus on eco-friendly technology in a bid to return to profit.

Sanyo, which last week came under the leadership of a former television anchorwoman, issued an unusual statement by corporate standards filled with references to space and mythology.

Sanyo said in a statement it will "reduce worldwide employment by 15 percent" by the end of the fiscal year to March 2008. Currently the company has some 96,000 employees.

It said it aims to slash costs by ?70 billion (US$630 million) and will close or sell 20 percent of its factories in Japan.

It also plans to cut interest-bearing debt by ?600 billion. It set a budget of ?90 billion for restructuring, with the aim of a 5 percent operating profit margin in the 2007 fiscal year.

Sanyo has seen profits slide due to intense competition in digital cameras and suffered damage to its chip-making plant in an earthquake last October in central Niigata Province.

In the statement, Sanyo called its restructuring "The Third Beginning," the "Sanyo Evolution Project" and "Think GAIA," referring to the Greek goddess of the Earth.

"Sanyo's mission is to restore a beautiful Earth to the children of the future and using sustainability -- symbiotic evolution -- as a keyword, Sanyo will aim to become a company that pleases life and the Earth," it said in English.

The company said it had set up four programs to realize its vision, dubbed "Sanyo Blue Planet," "Sanyo Genesis III," "Sanyo Harmonious Society" and "Sanyo Product Circulation."

The statement announcing the job cuts said Sanyo would reorganize around the environmental theme and saw growth in areas including "ecological co-existence solutions" and "recycling-oriented environmental solutions."

Sanyo last week came under new chief executive Tomoyo Nonaka, a former television anchorwoman with no experience in corporate management or electronics.
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