Consumer electronics company Sanyo Electric has announced plans to cut approximately 1,200 jobs in its semiconductor division in response to the global economic downturn.
The workforce reduction is expected to be completed by the end of March. The company plans to cut about 800 jobs in Japan and 400 jobs overseas. It also plans to cut by 10% the salaries of senior officials including vice president Maeda and president Seiichiro Sano. In addition, it will reduce the number of semiconductor sites abroad from seven to four.
The company also revised its outlook for fiscal 2008. It now expects to post zero profit against its May expectation of JPY 35 billion ($387.7m). It also reduced its revenue outlook from JPY 2.02 trillion ($22.37 billion) to JPY 1.9 trillion ($21.04 billion). The company expects semiconductor business revenue to be JPY 140 billion ($1.6 billion), down 12% year-on-year.
Last month, Panasonic agreed to acquire Sanyo for approximately JPY 800 billion ($9.07 billion) via a tender offer. Panasonic will buy Sanyo shares from investment firm Goldman Sachs and Japan’s Daiwa Securities and Sumitomo Mitsui.
Koichi Maeda, vice president at Sanyo, said: We decided to implement additional restructuring because there is no other way for us to survive if we don’t lower the break-even point.
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