Motorola, Inc.’s mounting losses in its cell phone business have led to an announcement today of another 7,000 jobs lost in its Personal Communications Sector (PCS). Motorola says the jobs will be eliminated in the next two quarters. This brings the total number of layoffs in Motorola’s PCS division to 12,000 employees since December.
Motorola PCS president Mike Zafirovski said that the cuts were necessary, especially given the current economic slowdown.
“We are committed to becoming the most cost-competitive enterprise in the industry in order to help grow our market share.” said Zafirovski. “We anticipate growth, but at a slower pace. We must continue to adapt our overall cost structure, workforce and production levels to a more competitive business model.”
Motorola said that it is continuing to do what it takes to “accelerate improvement and become more nimble,” including appointing new leadership, reducing its product portfolio, enhancing its platform strategy with support for General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and other emerging technologies, and streamlining its supply chain and manufacturing processes. The company indicated it has plans to introduce new products later this year.
Motorola, Inc. makes integrated communications and embedded electronic components. Along with IBM, Motorola manufactures the PowerPC processor, the central processing unit used in the Mac. Motorola’s Semiconductor Products Sector (SPS) — which makes PowerPC processors — does not appear to be directly affected by PCS’s restructuring.