Pioneer to cut 2,000 jobs worldwide

March 23, 2005 —

Pioneer Corp. is planning a restructuring of its global operations that is likely to see around 5 percent of its workforce lose their jobs, it said Wednesday.

The job cuts will come from throughout the company and total about 2,000 workers from its employee base of 39,000, said Michiko Kadoi, a spokeswoman for the company in Tokyo.

Heavy competition in the consumer electronics industry is pushing Pioneer to review its operations and consolidate some manufacturing. The company also plans to cut the number of product models is offers by about 10 percent. And it plans to launch new products worldwide on a biannual schedule.

In January Pioneer cut its financial forecast for the current fiscal year, which ends next week. It had been predicting operating revenue of

IDG News Service