Google cutting 4,000 jobs at Motorola unit
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) - Google is cutting about 4,000 jobs at its Motorola Mobility cellphone business and will close or consolidate about one-third of its 90 locations.
The reductions represent about 20 percent of Motorola Mobility's 20,000 employees, and 7 percent of Google's overall work force. Two-third of the job cuts will take place outside of the U.S., Google said.
The job eliminations come three months after Google bought the once-dominant U.S. cellphone maker for $12.5 billion, chiefly with a view to using its large patent portfolio to bolster its legal defenses.
The cellphone pioneer has been struggling for years. It hadn't produced a mass-market hit since it introduced the Razr cellphone in 2005 and its market share has plummeted.
Before the acquisition, Motorola had been trying to turn itself around by focusing on smartphones, and the cuts announced Monday will shift that goal even further. In the first quarter, Motorola sold 5.1 million smartphones and 3.7 million "dumb" phones.
The migration toward smartphones has slowed Motorola's decline, but it has still lost money in 14 out of the last 16 quarters.
Google said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the changes are intended to make the unit profitable, but warned that investors should expect revenue to fluctuate over the next few quarters, and sales will drop before the cost savings take effect.
Severance payments will cost Google about $275 million, which will largely be recognized in the current quarter. The company also expects to book an unspecified amount in restructuring charges, mostly in the quarter.
Motorola announced in June that it would move its headquarters from the Chicago suburb of Libertyville to downtown Chicago.
Google shares rose $7, or 1.1 percent, to $649 in morning trading.
The reductions represent about 20 percent of Motorola Mobility's 20,000 employees, and 7 percent of Google's overall work force. Two-third of the job cuts will take place outside of the U.S., Google said.
The job eliminations come three months after Google bought the once-dominant U.S. cellphone maker for $12.5 billion, chiefly with a view to using its large patent portfolio to bolster its legal defenses.
The cellphone pioneer has been struggling for years. It hadn't produced a mass-market hit since it introduced the Razr cellphone in 2005 and its market share has plummeted.
Before the acquisition, Motorola had been trying to turn itself around by focusing on smartphones, and the cuts announced Monday will shift that goal even further. In the first quarter, Motorola sold 5.1 million smartphones and 3.7 million "dumb" phones.
The migration toward smartphones has slowed Motorola's decline, but it has still lost money in 14 out of the last 16 quarters.
Google said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the changes are intended to make the unit profitable, but warned that investors should expect revenue to fluctuate over the next few quarters, and sales will drop before the cost savings take effect.
Severance payments will cost Google about $275 million, which will largely be recognized in the current quarter. The company also expects to book an unspecified amount in restructuring charges, mostly in the quarter.
Motorola announced in June that it would move its headquarters from the Chicago suburb of Libertyville to downtown Chicago.
Google shares rose $7, or 1.1 percent, to $649 in morning trading.
Oh, I'm pretty sure Motorola has a few technologies that they've developed over the years without being released for whatever reasons. In any case, this jobs cut should be reflected in their share pricing only if they have some significant product release coming to bolster this big cost saver. If not, they'll stay flat til they do have something, and then the product probably won't do as well; coming back to the shelves just in time to go against the other new releases, but without the proven track record in these recent year product categories.Â
Imagine if Motorola and Google were unionized, they wouldn't be able to layoff 4,000 people just like that. Either Detroit needs to take a hint from tech companies or tech companies need to take a hint from Detroit.Â
"Google's executives and employees overwhelmingly supported Obama's candidacy, contributing more money than all but three companies or universities. And only DreamWorks employees gave more toward inauguration festivities."
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From The Fox Propaganda Network: http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/24/business/fi-google24
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Anyone getting cancer in the next six years that was laid off or has to go to the doctor, Obama will have their blood on his hands...
I guess they have finally figured out that if you give everything away for free you can't afford to pay anyone. Â How many people has Apple layed off during the last few years? Â Yes that's right....0000