On February 4 Japan's Panasonic joined the ranks of fellow Japanese electronics makers Sony, Toshiba, Hitachi, and NEC to report losses and announce plans for layoff and plant shutdown, according to various accounts in the press. Panasonic expects a net loss of 380 billion Yen (US$4.14 billion; US$1=91.83 Yen) for the financial year ending March 31, as opposed to the forecast of 30 billion Yen (US$326.7 million) profit last November. In order to cut costs and cope with demand downturn, Panasonic plans to shutter 13 manufacturing facilities in Japan and 14 overseas sites by March 2009. Around 20% of Panasonic's 239 outlets worldwide will be shut down, too. In addition, Panasonic expects to let go 15,000 workers, both temporary and regular, which represent about 5% of Panasonic's global workforce. It is reported that half of the job cuts will be completed by March 2010.