Sony confirms 10,000 layoffs as part of 'One Sony' initiative
Troubled electronics giant to cut jobs and products in effort to return to profitability.
Sony announced Thursday it plans to lay off 10,000 employees, about 6 percent of the company's global workforce, in an effort to return the troubled company to profitability.
The cuts, as previously reported, are part of the electronics and entertainment giant's "One Sony" initiative, which focuses on the company's core strengths: digital imaging, gaming, and mobile. Kazuo Hirai, who took over as Sony's chief executive on April 1, said restructuring is expected to cost the company 75 billion yen (about $926 million) in fiscal 2012, according to The Next Web.
To boost the Sony's ailing TV business, Hirai said the company would reduce the number of products offered by 40 percent, focusing on the development of OLED and Crystal LED, The Verge reported.
The cuts come as Sony grapples with declining earnings. The company announced earlier this week it had revised its earnings forecast for the fiscal year ended March 31; instead of the previously projected loss of 220 billion yen ($2.7 billion), the company now expects to post a loss of 520 billion yen ($6.4 billion).