Google is to cut another 1,200 jobs at Motorola Mobility, equating to 10 per cent of its workforce, as the smartphone maker struggles to make profits.
Last August, Google laid off 4,000 employees from Motorola Mobility, after the company plans to make more smartphones as part of the Nexus range, which already includes the Google Nexus 4 and the two Nexus tablets, the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10.
“These cuts are a continuation of the reductions we announced last summer,” said Google spokeswoman Niki Fenwick in an email to Reuters. “It’s obviously hard for the employees concerned, and we are committed to helping them through this difficult transition.”
Motorola, once a leading smartphone manufacturer has struggled to compete with the products of its rivals, namely Apple and Samsung, who is due to launch the eagerly awaited Samsung Galaxy S4 next week.
The job cuts were announced to the Motorola Mobility staff in an email, which was subsequently published by the Wall Street Journal. “Our costs are too high, we’re operating in markets where we’re not competitive and we’re losing money,” the email explained.
Workers in the United States, China and India could all be affected by the lay-offs, which will bring the Motorola Mobility employee headcount to just fewer than 10,000 members.
What we know now as Motorola Mobility was created in 2011 when Motorola Inc split the company into a mobile devices company and one that dealt with government and public safety, called Motorola Solutions. Google bought the smartphone manufacturing company last year for $12.5 billion (£8.3 billion), marking its biggest acquisition to date. The search engine giant used the wealth of patents at Motorola Mobility’s disposal to fend off any legal battles with Apple as it began launching its own hardware.
Google co-founder Larry Page admitted that they are working to streamline the company as it makes a harder push into the hardware market.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
