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HP will reportedly announce restructuring plan next week, up to 30,000 job cuts

Donald Melanson — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:01:00 EST

It looks like HP could be in store for another wave of big changes. According to a pair of reports out today (backing up a report from Business Insider yesterday), HP CEO Meg Whitman will announce a new restructuring plan on the company's earnings call next Wednesday -- a plan that will entail some significant job cuts. Bloomberg pegs those cuts in the neighborhood of 25,000, while All Things D says they could include as many as 30,000 jobs, noting also that the number is still a "moving target." To put that in perspective, the company currently employs some 320,000 people worldwide. Of those cuts, 10 to 15,000 are said to come from HP's enterprise services group, and the company is also said to be offering early retirement packages to some 5,000 employees. That restructuring plan will apparently include more than just job cuts, though, with Whitman said to be pushing a "cut and reinvest" approach that will apply across the company, according to ATD.

HP will reportedly announce restructuring plan next week, up to 30,000 job cuts originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 May 2012 15:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony to cut 10,000 jobs and slash bonuses, says Japanese newspaper

Sharif Sakr — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 04:10:00 EST

There have been some major adjustments at Sony HQ already, but Japanese business sheet Nikkei reckons they're nothing compared to what's on the horizon. It reports that, come an announcement on April 12th, Kaz Hirai will reveal plans to clear out 10,000 jobs by the end of this year -- that's six percent of his workforce. The paper also says that seven execs, including chairman Howard Stringer, could be asked to forgo their bonuses, as the company concedes a $3.2 billion loss for 2011. It's a just a single report and it's entirely possible that none of this will happen, but merely the hint of such austerity could perhaps serve Hirai's interests, even if he ends up being less drastic when Thursday comes around.

Sony to cut 10,000 jobs and slash bonuses, says Japanese newspaper originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Apr 2012 04:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia's extreme dieting continues as it kills off Nokia Money

Daniel Cooper — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 10:35:00 EST

If you thought Nokia had finished its program of slimming down, think again. The axe is being wielded on Nokia Money as the company seeks to reinvent itself as a lean'n'mean mobile player. The mobile payments and cash management service was launched in India late last year, but both complex financial regulations and the fact it's outside of Nokia's core business prompted its early closure. Instead, it'll concentrate its efforts on its smartphones designed for emerging markets like the Asha: with the aim of connecting the "next billion" people to the internet.

Nokia's extreme dieting continues as it kills off Nokia Money originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Mar 2012 10:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia ends European, Mexican production: it's all Asia now (Updated)

Daniel Cooper — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:37:00 EST

Nokia's wielding another axe to its operations, cleaving away a further 4,000 employees from its operations in Finland, Hungary and Mexico. It follows a shedding of roughly 10,000 employees and a troubled withdrawal from Romania as the company pushes more operations towards Asia in an attempt to compete with its competitors. Whilst no more phones will be assembled in Europe, the company isn't closing the facilities outright, they'll be retained for "high value activities" (presumably R&D and other big-ticket projects). Whatever comes of Steven Elop's reign of the world's number one handset maker, it's clear to see that he's got a plan and he's sticking to it.

Update: Nokia got in touch to clarify that the factory in Manaus, Brazil is unaffected by these cuts. The three factories mentioned (in Salo, Reynosa and Komarom) will furthermore be used for the software-portion of production, including installing carrier-and-region-specific features in the Americas, Europe and Eurasia. Hardware assembly will now take place at the company's existing facilities in Beijing (China) and Masan (South Korea).

Nokia ends European, Mexican production: it's all Asia now (Updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Nokia contraction continues: 3,500 further job losses and more on the horizon

Sharif Sakr — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 06:42:00 EST

Nokia always said there'd be "substantial reductions in employment" but it's still brutal to see it happen. The manufacturer just revealed it intends to close its massive manufacturing plant in Cluj, Romania (pictured above) in order to shift high-volume feature phone production to Asian factories. The Cluj plant currently employs 2,200 people. Further "consolidation" of Nokia's Location and Commerce business will result in the closure of sites at Malvern in the US and Bonn in Germany, impacting around 1,300 employees. Finally, the company also says it'll review its production operations at Salo in Finland, Komarom in Hungary and Reynosa in Mexico, but we won't know how many workers this will affect until a further announcement at the beginning of next year. Nokia's press release says these cuts will take place by the end of 2012 and be in addition to the 4,000 job losses announced back in April -- it's copied in full after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading The Nokia contraction continues: 3,500 further job losses and more on the horizon

The Nokia contraction continues: 3,500 further job losses and more on the horizon originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Sep 2011 06:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Activision kills Guitar Hero division to the consternation of fake musicians everywhere

Laura June — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 21:51:00 EST

Guitar Hero had its time in the sun as one of the most successful franchises in musical gaming. Still, it's been no secret that the once-respected brand, owned by Activision, has experienced pretty steep declines in the past few years, especially on the lackluster Guitar Hero 5. So, surprising or not, the announcement today that Activision would disband the Guitar Hero team and kill off development of the next title in the series is a sad bit of news to hear (though in fact, not as sad as hearing, say, Chinese Democracy). This announcement comes on the heels of larger-scaled layoffs at Activision, and more cuts are rumored in the DJ Hero division, as well. At least we still have Rock Band, right?

Activision kills Guitar Hero division to the consternation of fake musicians everywhere originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 21:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola's co-CEOs graciously cut own pay in cost-cutting plan

Chris Ziegler — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 04:02:00 EST

Motorola was already in the hurt locker well before this latest economic crapstorm went into overdrive, so it stands to reason that pennies are being pinched and belts are being tightened across the board out in Schaumburg. 'Course, all sorts of jobs have already been cut, so what else can you do? For starters, you can trim a few bucks off the salaries of two of the companies' more well-paid individuals -- co-CEOs Greg Brown and Sanjay Jha -- both of whom will "voluntarily" take 25 percent pay cuts in 2009 (don't worry, they'll still be able to make ends meet). Additionally, Brown will skip out on his 2008 bonus while Jha will have his bonus reduced by the total amount of Brown's forfeited bonus, and he'll take the remainder as restricted-sale stock instead of the cold, hard cash that might be a little more valuable than shares of Motorola should the company go south. For employees without seven-figure salaries, they're looking at frozen pension plans and an elimination of the company's match into retirement accounts for '09. Sign of the times, eh?

[Thanks, Joe M.]

Filed under: Motorola

Motorola's co-CEOs graciously cut own pay in cost-cutting plan originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 04:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung scales back flat-screen output by 5% to fight bulging inventories

Darren Murph — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:41:00 EST

Ah, how quickly things can change in this volatile, volatile world. At the tail-end of June, Samsung seemed pretty adamant that it would be keeping its flat-panel production lines humming along as usual. Enter a tiny factor called the worldwide credit crisis, and that plan begins to look terrible. In an effort to "cope with excess inventory amid lackluster demand from global markets," Sammy has decided to lower its panel output by about 5% (which it has been doing since August, actually), though it is keeping a close eye on demand in case it needs to ramp back up in short order. Whatever happens, we're just hoping for lower prices for consumers come Black Friday (and beyond).

Filed under: Industry, Displays, Samsung, LCD

Samsung scales back flat-screen output by 5% to fight bulging inventories originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola cuts another 4,000 jobs

Chris Ziegler — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 10:06:00 EST

Recognizing that its first round of 3,500 job cuts wasn't enough to bring it back into the black, Moto has announced -- as expected -- a second round of layoffs to the tune of 4,000 axed positions. Ultimately, the company expects to save $600 million from the new cuts after they've been bunched in with "prioritization of investments, continuing discretionary-spending controls, general and administrative expenses and site rationalization" (whether any of that verbage actually means anything, we don't know, but it certainly sounds frugal). For the record, the first 3,500 cuts are apparently on track to be completed by June 30, but with newly-announced "restructuring charges" totalling $300 million, it's anybody's guess whether these moves are ultimately going to make America's only top five manufacturer profitable again.

Filed under: Motorola, Misc

Motorola cuts another 4,000 jobs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jun 2007 10:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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