Electronics giant Sony plans to cut 10,000 jobs in order to stabilize the company’s increasing losses.
Two days before the announcing the trimming of the number of company employees, Sony readjusted it projected losses for fiscal 2011 from $2.7 billion to $4.6 billion, according to a USA Today report.
Sony also plans on reducing the number of TV models by 40 percent in the next year, according the report, and it will focus its attention on improving upon its mobile electronics, digital cameras and games.
New CEO and President Kazuo Hirai held a press conference in Tokyo announcing the changes, stating, “The most pressing issue the Sony Group faces right now is the rebuilding and future growth of the electronics business.”
The debate is whether cutting so many jobs, which accounts for about 6 percent of the company workforce according to an Associated Press report, is the right way to go about turning the company around, considering potential consequences.
“Cutting jobs doesn’t seem like a long term answer to me, just a temporary band-aid on a bigger problem,” said post baccalaureate student Elizabeth Gebremariam. “Investor confidence could decrease if this comes across as desperation…job cuts strike a painful nerve for everyone that hears the news.”
Sophomore journalism major Gabby Kratsas sees the cuts as part of a company-saving process, however. “As much as I would hate to be the person to take away all of those jobs, I think it’s required today,” she said. “If larger companies, such as Sony, are struggling, they need to make crucial but necessary decisions in order to survive.”
Whether the solution has been found has yet to be determined; however, Sony has said that it expects the combination of cuts and product focus to yield profit within the next two years.
“Now is the time for Sony to change,” said Hirai.