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Consumer electronics giant Sony will axe 8,000 jobs in response to the sudden and rapid changes in the global economic environment.
Sony — maker of the Walkman portable player and PlayStation 3 game console — is particularly vulnerable to the strong yen since about 80 percent of its sales come from overseas. The dollar has dropped to about 93 yen from 117 yen last year, eroding with it Sony's foreign income.
The job cuts are part of a package of measures the outfit outlined this morning in an effort to cut costs and improve profitability.
The firm plans to halt production at two manufacturing sites, including its Dax Technology Centre in France and another it didn't name. A further four unnamed factories face the axe by March 31, 2010.
Apart from the 8,000 electronics job losses, Sony would cut at least 8,000 temporary jobs in the same sector by the end of March 2010. He said temporary workers are not counted in the tally of Sony's global work force.
Sony said it intends to outsource a portion of its planned increase in manufacturing of CMOS image sensors for use in mobile phones and postpone plans to invest in production expansion at the Nitra plant LCD television plant in Slovakia.
Overall the firm will cut investment in its electronics business by approximately 30 per cent in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, compared to its mid-year plan.
The job cuts will affect around five per cent of the company's worldwide workforce and more are likely judging by the swingeing nature of its axe flinging.
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