Motorola sets Q1 charges at $229 million
A total of 5,600 employees left Motorola in the first quarter as part of previously announced cuts, and the company will have to cough up $229 million to see them off.
Motorola announced plans Monday to record $229 million in charges related to layoffs during the first quarter.
In a filing with the SEC, Motorola said that it will have cut 5,600 employees in the first quarter, completing the 7,000 layoffs it has announced since October of 2008. In exchange for letting those employees go, Motorola will have to pay them $216 million as well as record an additional $13 million in charges related to the exit of certain businesses.
Motorola has a goal for reducing its 2009 annual costs by $1.5 billion. The company's handset division has languished in the year since it announced plans to seek a buyer for that group. No one stepped forward, prompting Motorola to delay the sale, and product development seems to have stayed home as well; Motorola handsets were practically absent from CTIA 2009.