Sony set to cut 10,000 jobs as part of revamp
TECHNOLOGY group Sony is thought to be cutting 10,000 jobs, about six per cent of its workforce, as new chief executive Kazuo Hirai looks to steer the electronics and entertainment giant back to profit after four years in the red.
Investors will closely monitor a briefing on Thursday by Hirai, who formally took over this month as chief executive from Howard Stringer, for further clues on how Sony plans to revamp its business.
“Under a new CEO, it’s easier to cut jobs or go in a new direction,” said Yuuki Sakurai, head of fund manager Fukoku Capital, which holds a small stake in Sony.
The Nikkei newspaper said half of the latest round of job cuts would come from consolidating the firm’s chemicals and small and midsize LCD operations.
Sony said last month it was selling a chemical products division, accounting for some 3,000 people, while on 1 April it merged its Sony Mobile display unit, which had about 2,000 workers, with the small LCD panel businesses of Toshiba and Hitachi into a new firm called Japan Display.