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Panasonic halving HQ workforce, says Nikkei

Panasonic halving HQ workforce, says Nikkei

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Panasonic is announcing it’s cutting the workforce of its Osaka head office by between 3,000 and 4,000 workers, reports Nikkei. Out of its domestic workforce of approximately 100,000 employees, roughly 7,000 work at the head office.

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panasonic logo ces 1020
panasonic logo ces 1020

Panasonic is cutting the workforce of its Osaka head office by between 3,000 and 4,000 workers, reports Nikkei. Approximately 7,000 of its 100,000 domestic employees work at the head office. The desired staff levels will apparently be reached through a combination of early retirements and transfers to subsidiary companies. While the company has laid off staff before, notably from its TV and semiconductor businesses last year, these cuts will be the first large-scale restructuring at the head office.

The move is likely part of the 17,000-employee restructuring the company announced last April. In order to achieve its targets, Panasonic is apparently considering spinning off its R&D and production technology divisions, sending employees to these new, separate businesses. The troubled TV maker posted its largest loss in history earlier this month, but hopes the cuts will put it on course for a net profit of 50 billion yen (about $630 million) at the end of the current fiscal year. Incoming president Kazuhiro Tsuga certainly has a tough year ahead of him — Nikkei notes that further job cuts and restructuring may be in the works.