Following 4,500 layoffs in fiscal 2008 ending
March 31, 2009, Japan's Toshiba announced on April 17 a new round of 3,900
redundancies, AFP reported. Toshiba posted a record loss of 350 billion Yen (US$3.61
billion; US$=97.01 Yen) for the last fiscal year and has planned to downscale
its capital investment to 250 billion Yen (US$2.58 billion) in fiscal 2009,
down by 42% in comparison with the previous year.
Meanwhile, facing a pre-tax loss of 293 million
Euros (US$385.53 million; US$1=0.76 Euro) in the first quarter of 2009, mobile
phone maker Sony Ericsson said it has planned a new round of restructuring scheme
and expects to make 2,000 further job cuts, also according to AFP. Sony
Ericsson has posted losses in three consecutive quarters, and the company had
let go 2,000 workers in a previous savings program. By means of the new
restructuring scheme, Sony Ericsson expects to bring its operating costs down
by 400 million Euros (US$526.32 million) by mid-2010. It remains undisclosed which
countries and regions will be affected by the company's new downsizing program.