Panasonic to halve headquarters workforce

Electronics giant posted a record 772 bn yen loss for year ended March 31

Japan's Panasonic Corp plans to nearly halve the number of workers at its headquarters through early retirement and transfers to subsidiaries, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday, sending shares in the electronics group up 3%.

The maker of Viera TVs and Lumix cameras, which incurred a record 772 billion yen group net loss for the year ended March 31, will trim its 7,000-strong headquarters workforce by 3,000 to 4,000, the daily said.

A Panasonic spokeswoman said the the reported job cuts had not been decided, but added that the company was constantly looking into ways to restructure its business.

Incoming president Kazuhiro Tsuga, due to take his post next month, has said one of his main missions would be to speed up decision-making, pledging to get Panasonic's ailing TV business back on a firm footing within two years.

The expected streamlining measures follow similar moves at domestic rival Sony Corp, whose new chief Kazuo Hirai last month outlined plans to cut 10,000 jobs, or 6% of the global workforce at the firm, which is also hobbled by a loss-making TV division.

Both Sony and Panasonic have faced fierce competition from South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co and LG Electronics Inc after dominating the global TV market in the 1980s and 1990s.

Sources told Reuters earlier this month that Sony and Panasonic were in talks to jointly develop the technology to mass produce next-generation OLED televisions, widely seen replacing current LCD TVs.

Panasonic would start discussing the job cuts with workers in July and likely start offering early retirement soon after, the Nikkei said.

The company was also considering spinning off R&D and production technology functions, the paper said. Procurement division personnel could be transferred to closely affiliated segments.

Panasonic, which has already reduced staffing levels in hard-hit segments such as televisions and cameras, aimed to achieve a 50 billion yen group net profit in the year ending March 2013, the Nikkei said.

Panasonic's shares were up 3.1% at 532 yen in early Tokyo trade, bucking a 0.5% fall in the broader Topix index.