Google to slash 4,000 jobs at Motorola
Posted August 13, 2012 9:40 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Google Inc. plans to slash about 4,000 jobs at its Motorola Mobility subsidiary, one-fifth of the cellphone maker’s workforce.
The Mountain View, Calif., company said two-thirds of the cuts will happen outside of the United States, but didn’t give any details. One-third of Motorola’s 90 offices will also be shut down.
In a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Aug. 3, Google said Motorola has lost money in 14 of the last 16 quarters and the changes are a “key step” toward making the unit profitable.
“Motorola understands how hard these changes will be for the employees concerned and is committed to helping them through this difficult transition,” the filing said.
Google said the restructuring will cost $275 million in severance plus other charges, which could be “significant.”
The company also said it plans to shift its focus from wireless phones to more profitable devices.
Google bought Motorola in May for $12.5 billion, the tech giant’s biggest deal to date.
