Panasonic will cut 15,000 jobs as it forecasts $4.3B loss
Japanese electronics giant Panasonic on Wednesday forecast its first yearly loss in a long time and said it will slash jobs due to the worsening global economy.
The company plans to shed 15,000 jobs by the end of March, 2010 and shut factories in Japan amid slumping sales. Panasonic also forecast its first yearly net loss in six years, ¥380 billion (US$4.3 billion).
Sales fell dramatically in the fourth quarter, said the Japanese company, which changed its name from Matsushita Electric Industrial in October.
The company's sales for the fourth quarter fell 20 percent year-on-year to ¥1.88 trillion as it turned to a net loss ¥63.1 billion.
Panasonic blamed the decrease on a sharp downturn in consumer spending, increased price competition, rising raw material prices and a stronger yen.
The company will shut 27 factories worldwide, including 13 in Japan. It employed 307,444 people as of the end of 2008.
IDG News Service
Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world
On Twitter now
panasonic
Powered by Twitter
Esther Schindler
If the comments are ugly, the code is ugly
claird
SVG a graphics format for 21st century
pasmith
Take Chrome OS for a test spin
Sandra Henry-Stocker
Solaris Tip: Have Your Files Changed Since Installation?
jfruh
Android fragments vs. the iPhone monolith
mikelgan
What Gizmodo missed about the Pro WX Wireless USB disk drive
Where Google Chrome security fails: the password
I heard mention that the Chrome OS will have some sort of encryption available a la bitlocker. If it's possible to encrypt personal data using another password or key, then it may have potential for very secure data.... And Ubuntu has an 'encrypt home directory' option, perhaps google should follow suit.
- Dann
Join the conversation here
Quick, practical advice for IT pros. Made fresh daily.
Want to cash in on your IT savvy? Send your tip to tips@itworld.com. If we post it, we'll send you a $25 Amazon e-gift card.
