Japan’s Sharp slashes jobs to cut losses

Electronics giant to eliminate 5,000 jobs, and reduce top salaries by as much as 50 per cent, due to drop in TV sales.

Sharp is expected to announce a quarterly net loss of around $1.27bn [AP]

Sharp, the Japanese electronics company, reportedly plans to slash 5,000 jobs by March after a major fall in television sales.

It had originally considered cutting about 3,000 domestic jobs, but decided to expand the scope to include worldwide operations to accelerate a management restructuring, Kyodo News said on Thursday.

The firm, which employs 57,000 people globally, has seen operations suffer amid worries over high energy prices, a high yen, and reduced domestic demand. 

Meanwhile, Sharp executives will take pay cuts of 20 to 50 per cent, compared with originally planned 10 to 30 per cent, Kyodo and broadcaster NHK said.

A Sharp spokeswoman declined to comment on the reports, but said the company’s president Takashi Okuda will address the media in Tokyo on Thursday after posting its April to June earnings.

Sharp is expected to announce a quarterly net loss of around $1.27bn, the Nikkei business daily said last month.

The firm expects to end this fiscal year in the red after logging a record $4.7bn net loss up to March 2012 as global sales of its LCD televisions slumped.

However, Sharp has expressed hope that increased efficiency and synergy with new Taiwanese partner Hon Hai Precision should help it return to operating profit of $255m in the year to March 2013.

Source: News Agencies