Panasonic / To cut 5,000 jobs

In a drive to improve profits, Panasonic has announced plans to cut 5,000 jobs over the next three years.

The cutbacks will hit its automotive and industrial unit, which accounts for about a third of the company’s workforce, the Nikkei reported Thursday, citing a Panasonic executive.

“A reduction in labor costs will be a big part of our plan to improve profitability,” Yoshihiko Yamada, the head of Panasonic’s automotive and industrial division, told analysts and investors in Tokyo on Thursday.

The division, which includes automotive components, semiconductors, production machinery and other devices, employs 110,000 people, and is the crux of Tsuga’s business strategy to create a new niche for Panasonic in the already over-saturated consumer electronics markets, which rivals Sony and Samsung have a steady hold on.

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via Panasonic to cut 5,000 jobs — RT Business.