Motorola Inc. announced further job cuts Friday, eliminating up to 4,000 jobs from its semiconductor division this year out of its total 130,000 employees. Cuts will come from contract and temporary employees, attrition, and both voluntary and involuntary severance programs, the company said.
The company included the cuts among measures to achieve “a substantial reduction in capital spending and operating budgets, further business and manufacturing consolidations,” the company said in a news release.
Last month, Motorola Inc. announced it would lay off 2,500 people, as it winds down manufacturing operations at its Harvard, Ill., campus. The company plans to finish shutting down its manufacturing operation at Harvard by June 30. It was unclear if Friday’s announcement is part of the number of jobs cut as announced in January or represents additional cutbacks. Motorola did not immediately return a call seeking clarification.
Motorola’s fourth-quarter earnings announcement in January came after it issued a profit warning in December. The company blamed increasing manufacturing costs and operating expenses for slimmer profits, pledging to rein in expenses.
Last year, Motorola established outsourcing agreements with electronics manufacturer Flextronics International Ltd. and electronic manufacturing services company Celestica Inc. Motorola sold its manufacturing operations in Dublin, Ireland, and Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, to Celestica, eliminating 2,870 Motorola jobs.
Nokia Corp. has led the field of cell-phone makers, but competitive pressures and weakening demand for handsets has led to profit problems for the sector. Sweden’s L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co. said in January it would outsource all mobile telephone handset production, while Nokia executives warned investors in a January conference call that demand would be weak for the next two quarters.
Motorola, based in Schaumburg, Ill., can be reached at http://www.mot.com/.
