Sony to cut 10k jobs

FIRST CUT IS THE DEEPEST: Sony plans to reduce its workforce by an estimated 10,000 jobs, or about 6% of its global workforce, as part of new CEO Kazuo Hirai's restructuring plan, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter said Monday. After four straight years of losses, Hirai's main focus is to turn around the company's struggling electronics business. Around half of the headcount reduction is expected to come from two restructuring moves already announced, with the rest coming partly from the company’s long-struggling TV business. The payroll cuts could run through the two fiscal years until March 2014, although the final timing has not been settled, the people said. The potential reductions are the first details to emerge of Hirai's restructuring plan—due to be announced at a corporate strategy meeting Thursday—since he replaced Howard Stringer as CEO of Sony in April. The restructuring plan will be the company's second major overhaul in four years. The last large-scale cuts came in late 2008 during the global financial crisis when Stringer axed 16,000 jobs and closed a number of factories. As of March 2011, Sony had 168,200 employees worldwide. Stringer, Hirai and other executives are also expected to forgo their bonuses for the fiscal year that ended in March. 4/9a)