NEC, Japan’s largest personal-computer maker, said it will cut more than 20,000 employees after forecasting its first loss in three years.
The figure includes part-time workers, Ken Fukuchi, a spokesman in Tokyo, said by telephone.
He declined to provide a timeframe for the job eliminations at NEC, which had 150,236 full-time employees as of December 31st.
NEC today reversed its full-year forecast to a net loss after the global credit crunch cut chip demand and eroded valuations of shareholdings.
Sales of flat-panel televisions, cameras and mobile phones are forecast to fall this year as the slump in global demand deepens, according to Daiwa Institute of Research estimates.
The net loss will total 290 billion yen ($3.2 billion) in the 12 months ending March 31st, compared with profit of 15 billion yen forecast in October and income 22.7 billion yen a year earlier, NEC said today.
Sales will fall 9 per cent to 4.2 trillion yen, missing its previous projection of 4.6 trillion yen.
Bloomberg