Panasonic, Japan’s biggest maker of consumer electronics has announced a major restructuring effort in which the company will shed around 17,000 jobs over the next two years.
The announcement follows a string of negative news reports from Japanese companies in the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunamis in March.
The Osaka-based company said, however, that the redundancies were part of efforts to “streamline” the business so as to be more competitive with Korean and Chinese rivals in the battle for emerging markets, especially as sales of flat panel TVs reach critical mass in more established regions.
The 17,000 jobs to be shed would bring Panasonic’s current workforce down to 350,000, a sizable fall from the 385,000 people employed at the company a year ago.
Local officials for the company were unable to confirm neither how the restructuring would affect Australian operations nor how many jobs would be lost here. A former Panasonic Australia employee said that the company sacked around 30 staff earlier this year.
The reorganisation effort is expected to cost Panasonic about ¥160 billion ($A1.8 billion).
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