Sony Axe 8,000 Jobs

Sony has, this morning, announced that a restructure will mean 8,000 job losses by April 2010, 5% of its workforce.  Two of its overseas manufacturing plants will also close, reducing the output by 10% over the next 15 months.  It appears it’s mainly TV and Mobile Phone divisions that will see the biggest cuts, although it’s not clear if anyone connected to the PlayStation brand will be out of a job because of this.

Citing “sudden and rapid changes in the global economic environment” as the main reason, the statement from Sony read that “particularly within its electronics business, where Sony has been most affected by the acute downturn in the economic climate, the company has already undertaken certain short-term measures, including adjusting production, lowering inventory levels, and reducing operational expenses.”

The statement continues to reaffirm what we said last week, that they plan to adjust product pricing to offset the exchange rate issues with the yen.