Toshiba one of the largest manufacturers of personal computers, consumer electronics, and home appliances, is set to reduce 7% of its workforce by cutting 5000 jobs in Japan. Toshiba was once one of the biggest employers in the nation.
The restructuring move as reported by Nikkei is aimed at streamlining operations and cutting down costs from non-core business arms. The company aims to focus on its infrastructure and digital technology business.
Layoff is not an isolated event associated only with Toshiba. In Japan, other major companies like Shiseido, Omron, and Konica Minolta have also laid off employees and announced plans to do further layoffs. The layoffs come at a time when global behemoths like Amazon and Google have also laid off thousands of employees.
Toshiba currently employs around 65,000 employees in Japan. If the layoff gets carried it will mark one of the biggest layoffs in the company since 2015. The layoff that year reduced 7000 jobs due to accounting irregularities.
“The restructuring plan is a pillar of the Japanese conglomerate's effort to improve its profitability as part of its midterm management plan to be announced in May," said the report.
“The company will begin discussions with its labor union as early as May to determine how many positions to cut in each business unit," it added.