Panasonic to axe 35,000 employees

Panasonic are to cull 35,000 people from their workforce over two years, as they are losing money from restructuring costs associated with damage from the March 11th disasters.

President Fumio Ohtsubo has said that the company will streamline operations to boost profitability, including selling some of its business and to reduce their workforce of 385,000 by 9 percent.

This could be the biggest job culling in Japanese manufacturing history. Much like Sony, Panasonic have been having a difficult time battling the competition from companies such as Samsung who are leading the way in flat panel television design.

Panasonic have reported a staggering $499 million loss for Q1 2011, and the loss was mainly due to $748 million costs for restructuring. They are claiming that the earthquake in Japan has hit them badly, saying production has stalled due to parts shortages and reduced consumer spending. They added that they are not yet able to calculate how the disasters will affect the business long time. They did say that the disasters have taken $258 million from their operating profit for the fiscal year ended March 31st.

“There is so much left for us to tackle,” Ohtsubo said from Osaka headquarters via a satellite feed in Tokyo. “We hope to revive our TV business.”

KitGuru says: tough times for Panasonic.

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