The billion-dollar diet: Moto says 4,000 more must go

Motorola Inc. said yesterday that it would cut 4,000 more jobs in the coming year, on top of 3,500 job cuts to be completed by next month.
The reduced headcount at the world’s No. 2 handset vendor is part of an overall $1 billion restructuring that it is undertaking to slim down while it turns around its primary business in handsets.
The company said yesterday it was on target to complete $400 million in cuts announced in January and would add another $600 million in cost reductions, to be made this year and into next year.
Motorola expects to find the additional $600 million cuts in overhead between the 4,000 job losses and “prioritization of investments,” continuing discretionary-spending controls, expenses and “site rationalization.” The company did not immediately elaborate on where in its operations the job cuts would come, nor whether “site rationalization” meant closing facilities.
Motorola also has not offered a current figure for its workforce. American Technology Research estimated today that, with its acquisition of Symbol Technologies, Motorola’s ranks swelled to about 71,000 employees by the end of March.
Though American Technology Research analyst Mark McKechnie said that the company has not offered more detail on its revenue and gross margin numbers, he is “encouraged” by new CFO Tom Meredith’s efforts to “right-size” the company in response to its drop in revenue and profit.
More detail may be forthcoming in public appearances today by CEO Ed Zander and Meredith, McKechnie said.