Panasonic to cut 5,000 jobs over three years

May 31, 2013 | 09:12

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Japanese electronics giant Panasonic said on Thursday it was aiming to cut about 5,000 jobs over three years in its automotive and industrial systems unit, following an eye-watering annual loss.

(AFP/File/Toru Yamanaka)

TOKYO: Struggling Japanese electronics giant Panasonic said on Thursday it was aiming to cut about 5,000 jobs over three years in its automotive and industrial systems unit, following an eye-watering annual loss.

The division, which makes everything from memory chips to car navigation systems, would reduce its existing workforce of about 111,000 people by March 2016, a company spokeswoman said.

The job cuts came less than a month after Panasonic, which has cut about 20 per cent of its total workforce in recent years, booked a 754.25 billion yen (US$7.5 billion) net loss over the year to March.

Panasonic, like key domestic rivals Sony and Sharp, has suffered in its television business where lower-costs foreign rivals proved tough competition, while its debt was inflated by the purchase of smaller rival Sanyo.

Panasonic's job cuts are part of a wider industry overhaul aimed rescuing Japan's struggling electronics giants which have also suffered from strategic mistakes that left their finances in ruins.

The company had a total of 293,742 employees as of March 31, according to Panasonic's website.

AFP

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