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Microsoft plans 7,800 layoffs, $7.6 billion Nokia write-down
After cutting its workforce by around 18,000 over the past year, Microsoft is readying another round of heavy layoffs. The company will cut 7,800 jobs over "the next several months." Many of the dismissals will come from Microsoft's phone business, which joined the company's newly formed "Windows and Devices Group" in June. As part of the merger announcement, Microsoft also revealed it would say goodbye to the last two major Nokia executives still at the company, Stephen Elop and Jo Harlow, in the near future.
AMD could slash up to 30 percent of its workforce according to reports
AllThingsD and CNET are reporting that 30 percent of AMD's workforce could be laid off, though one of several unnamed sources notes the cuts could be as low as 10 percent. If these reports hold true, this would be the second round of layoffs for AMD within a year's time. The reductions will reportedly affect the firm's engineering and sales employees, and may be serious enough to cause a paring back of product lines. The silicon giant could potentially reveal its plans as early as next week, which would coincide with the announcement of its third quarter financial results. With the company expecting a ten percent revenue drop in Q3, it looks like the latest figures will continue the trend of less than ideal results.
Nokia furloughing up to 20 percent of employees at only Finnish factory
Of its nine factories around the world, Nokia has just one in its home country -- the only one left in all of Western Europe -- in the town of Salo. As you can imagine, its well-being is probably a pretty touchy subject, not just for locals but for Nokia fans around the world -- especially when you consider that the company's highest-end devices are assembled here, making the health of the factory a bellwether for the health of the coolest models in the range. The company has revealed this week that it'll be sending home up to 20 percent of the plant's staff for up to 90 days at any one time, saying that there's simply no need for it to operate at full capacity in the current market; we say you could argue that making the right phones could lead to a need for full capacity, but what do we know? Anyhow, the move closely mirrors one that had already been made for 2009, and you could look on the bright side -- at least they're not closing it down the same way they did Jyväskylä.
VUDU looks to integrate with TVs, DVD players
VUDU's been doing its darnedest of late to keep up with the slew of rivals looking to steal away every piece of market share they can, and a recent report over at CEPro sheds a little light onto how the company plans to both stay afloat and take off. As with most every other outfit, VUDU has also suffered through a few rounds of layoffs. Currently, the company employs about 50, which is down from a high of around 110. Co-founder Tony Miranz seems pretty optimistic about the future, though, noting that the outfit is being "bombarded with inquiries" from potential partners. Speaking of which, he also asserted that VUDU was -- at its heart -- a software company, and thus it was currently looking to integrate its top-shelf UI and movie delivery network into HDTVs, DVD / Blu-ray players and other standalone boxes. It's tough to say how such a shift would affect the firm. On one hand, you've got CinemaNow barely breathing, while Netflix has managed to execute this plan to perfection. Go on VUDU, roll the dice -- we'll be watching.[Thanks, Ben]
Palm axes an undisclosed amount of employees, sort of blames itself
My, my -- how's this for truth in advertising? Palm InfoCenter has confirmed with a Palm spokesperson that the flagging outfit will be laying off an undisclosed amount of employees as the economy worsens and the firm attempts to keep that final nail from being slammed down on its coffin. According to the spokesperson, the company will undergo a certain amount of restructuring (sound familiar?) that will "result in company reductions in the US and internationally." Incredulously, the statement also included this gem: "The global economic downturn continues to dampen demand for consumer goods around the world, and the impact on the economic environment is worsened by our maturing Centro line and the length of time it is taking to ramp our new Windows Mobile products." We won't say for sure that it's actually taking some of the blame here, but it sure sounds like it. Now, if only it would take charge of its future...[Image courtesy of DayLife]
UIQ Technology puts entire staff on notice of dismissal
Ugh, this is just downright depressing no matter how you spin it. Sure, it's just the reality of business and all, but it's no fun to hear that 270 staffers will soon be looking for employment when UIQ Technology finishes climbing into the grave. After hacking 200 jobs in June and being coined "dead" by Sony Ericsson's Patrick Olson, All About Symbian has it that the company has put its remaining employees "on notice of dismissal." We're told that SE has agreed to "continue funding the company on a by month by month basis in order to allow it to investigate options for the future," but from the outside looking in, we'd say the outlook is bleak. Thankfully, it sounds like those affected will at least be assisted as they exit, but now would probably be an opportune time to shed a tear for UIQ as we knew it.
SanDisk likely to cut 15% of staff as it downsizes
According to unnamed industry sources, SanDisk is primed to fire up to 15% of its staff, which would amount to around 450 to 500 employees. The purported cuts will be made as the company downsizes in order to cut costs, hot on the heels of a $155 million Q3 loss and sales that have sunk by 21% year-over-year to $281 million. Call us crazy, but we get the feeling this won't be the last story we hear over the next few months that ends with dutiful workers being sent home.[Image courtesy of Semiconductor]
Pioneer forecasts even wider net loss, names new president
As the flagging economy wreaks havoc on just about every mega-corp out there, the latest to publicly admit to being affected is Pioneer. After posting a rather significant loss earlier this year, the company is now guiding to a wider-than-forecast net loss of ¥78 billion ($789.9 million) for the year to March 31, blaming the surging yen and the slowing economy. The company is scheduled to nix its unprofitable plasma-panel operations by February and slash 2,000 jobs this fiscal year in order to counter the bleeding, and it looks as if former president Tamihiko Sudo is one of the first bigwigs to fall. As of November 16th, Susumu Kotani (pictured right) will take over that role, though we can't imagine he's looking forward to grabbing the captain's chair in such a turbulent environment.[Via PC World, image courtesy of DayLife]
Nokia to pay German state ???1.3 million to settle Bochum dispute
Germany wanted $6.2 million in research subsidies back from Nokia, and in addition to the "tens of millions" that the company has already relinquished after the highly-disputed Bochum plant closing, it'll be coughing up another €1.3 million ($2.04 million) to hopefully close the door on the matter. Said payment will be addressed to North Rhine-Westphalia, which was quite angry after the handset maker decided to hack 2,300 jobs from Germany and relocate operations to Romania for "lower labor costs." The sum here is in addition to the €20 million "Growth for Bochum" foundation that the outfit started, but apparently that show of goodwill didn't really change the hearts of those already bitter.[Via PhoneScoop, image courtesy of Reuters]
Palm axes some jobs
In the wake of Palm's sale of a quarter stake to Elevation Partners, the company is axing an unspecified number of jobs in an effort to flatten its "organizational hierarchy." Though it wouldn't specify how many jobs were getting cut, they're apparently in the development group (from a casual observer's perspective, development seems like the wrong place to cut jobs when your best-selling products are mildly tweaked versions of years-old designs, but we're just bloggers -- what do we know?). For what it's worth, Palm points out that the cuts are just the final stages of a reorganization that's been in the works for some time now and predates the Elevation deal. No faith that you're gonna need engineers around for a Foleo 2, guys?[Via the::unwired]
Motorola cuts another 4,000 jobs
Recognizing that its first round of 3,500 job cuts wasn't enough to bring it back into the black, Moto has announced -- as expected -- a second round of layoffs to the tune of 4,000 axed positions. Ultimately, the company expects to save $600 million from the new cuts after they've been bunched in with "prioritization of investments, continuing discretionary-spending controls, general and administrative expenses and site rationalization" (whether any of that verbage actually means anything, we don't know, but it certainly sounds frugal). For the record, the first 3,500 cuts are apparently on track to be completed by June 30, but with newly-announced "restructuring charges" totalling $300 million, it's anybody's guess whether these moves are ultimately going to make America's only top five manufacturer profitable again.
