Japan's NEC cutting 20,000 jobs

Struggling Japanese electronics giant NEC Corp said today it was slashing 20,000 jobs worldwide to cope with the economic crisis.

About 40 per cent of the job cuts will be in Japan and the rest overseas, NEC president Kaoru Yano told a press conference.

"We are aiming for 20,000 or more," he said, adding that about half would be full-time regular workers. The job cuts, which will be made by March 2010, were announced soon after the group said it expects a net loss of 290 billion yen (USD 3.2 billion) in the current financial year to March due to slumping sales.

"It is regrettable that we have to announce such a big downgrade," Yano said. "We must cut waste."

NEC said net losses soared 13-fold in the nine months to December from a year earlier to 129.0 billion yen, up from 9.98 billion yen a year earlier.

Japan's high-tech giants have been badly affected by the global economic slowdown, which has pushed down demand for their products and sent the yen soaring, eroding export earnings. )