PANASONIC TO CUT 15,000 JOBS, SHUT 27 FACTORIES
February 4th, 2009Via: AP:
Panasonic Corp. said Wednesday it will slash as many as 15,000 jobs and shut 27 plants worldwide, joining a slew of major Japanese companies announcing deep cuts as the global slowdown batters the world’s second-largest economy.
The world’s largest maker of plasma display TVs also announced a net loss for the October-December quarter and lowered its forecast for the fiscal year through March to a net loss of 380 billion yen ($4.2 billion), its first annual loss in six years.
Panasonic blamed the dismal results on the global slowdown set off by the U.S. financial crisis, the rapid surge of the yen and sudden price drops. Sales slid in a wide range of products, including flat-panel TVs, DVD recorders, microwaves, lamps and semiconductors, it said.
The Osaka-based manufacturer plans to cut the jobs — half of which will come in Japan — by the end of March 2010. They amount to about 5 percent of its 300,000-strong global work force.
Panasonic also will shutter 14 overseas plants and 13 plants in Japan by the end of March to adjust production and cut costs, company spokesman Akira Kadota said. The company said it has 230 production sites around the world but declined to give a regional breakdown.
“The company’s business conditions have worsened particularly since last October, due mainly to the rapid appreciation of the yen, sluggish consumer spending worldwide and ever intensified price competition,” it said in a statement.
