After announcing a loss of US$1.4 billion for the third quarter, Motorola Inc. said Wednesday that it will cut 3,000 more jobs, in addition to 4,000 already being eliminated through previously-announced sales of divisions within the company.
The job cuts will come from across all areas of the company worldwide and will be completed by the end of the year through layoffs and attrition, according to Margot Brown, senior director of communications and public affairs at Motorola.
These cuts add to the 32,000 jobs Motorola has eliminated since December 2000.
In this new round of layoffs, Motorola is “responding to the global economic downturn,” Brown said, citing flagging sales of the company’s semiconductors, mobile phone handsets and networking equipment.
“All we can do is continue to tighten our belts,” Brown said.
Motorola’s financial fortunes have been lagging in 2001 as the company has posted a combined loss of US$2.7 billion for the first three quarters of the year. Over the same period in 2000, the company earned a profit of US$1.18 billion. Sales were down across the board for the company, with handsets ringing up 16 per cent fewer sales, semiconductors down 48 per cent and broadband equipment down 31 per cent, compared to 2000.
Motorola announced its third-quarter financial results after the markets closed Tuesday. In midday trading Wednesday, Motorola stock (MOT) was up $0.23, or 1.38 per cent, to $16.95.
Motorola, based in Schaumburg, Ill., at http://www.mot.com/.