Sony to axe 10,000 employees, 6% of its workforce

Electronics company Sony will cut around 10,000 jobs globally, in a bid to reduce costs after reporting ongoing losses. The number is around 6 percent of the company's total workforce. The news comes from the Nikkei newspaper and so far Sony has not released further details on what appears to be part of the “painful” action promised by newly appointed CEO Kazuo Hirai.

It is widely believed that Sony needs profound restructuring to return to profitability, but details of exactly how the move will affect Sony's estimated 168,000 employees are still hazy, with the company declining to comment further. Announcements are expected over the coming week. Sony cut 16,000 jobs in 2008 in the wake of the global financial crisis, but has failed to return to profitability since then. Rating agencies Moody's and Standard & Poor's downgraded the firm's credit rating earlier this year. The company is currently worth around USD 200 billion and blames the continuing poor results on competition, particularly from Apple and, since parting ways, Samsung, as well as flooding last year in Thailand, a strong Yen and falling demand. Electronics giant Sony had its origins in a radio repair shop started in 1945 by Masaru Ibuka, he was joined in 1946 by Akio Morita. The pair founded the company that later adopted the Sony name. In the early 50s the company gained a license to use transistor technology from US firm Bell and went on to produce Japan' first transistor radios. The Sony Walkman portable cassette player remains an 80s icon. Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com