Motorola Plans More Layoffs

Placing the blame on a faltering economy, Motorola Inc. this week announced that it plans to lay off 9,400 employees in the next 12 months.

The company now has cut close to 43,000 jobs since December 2000, and 48,400 employees since August 2000, when the company was at its payroll peak of 150,000.

Previous cutbacks included massive layoffs in the cell phone business and the shuttering entirely of the traditional pager business. The latest cuts focus on the semiconductor business, including 4,000 from its semiconductor operations, 1,300 from its equipment manufacturing businesses and the rest distributed across the company.

“Personally, I sincerely regret the impact on the Motorola associates affected by these actions, but these initiatives, when coupled with the energy of all ongoing Motorola associates globally and the focus of our leadership team, will result in a leaner, more flexible and more profitable company in a global environment less predictable than in past eras,” said Motorola Chairman and CEO Christopher Galvin in a statement.

Company officials in Schaumburg, Ill., said the moves should help to make the company profitable by the second half of 2002.

Motorola took a hit this week when Palm Inc. announced that it will use processors from Texas Instruments Inc. in its next generation of wireless handheld computers. Palms current line of products use Motorolas Dragonball processors, and Motorola had been competing for space in the future handhelds as well.