Consumer electronics giant Royal Philips
Electronics on Monday said it is planning to cut 4,500 jobs globally as
part of a cost saving programme and did not rule out the possibility of
this exercise affecting employees in India [
Images ].
The job cuts are part of a plan to save 800 million euros (USD 1.1 billion), the Netherlands-based Philips said in a statement.
"About
60 per cent of the savings are people-related and will result in the
loss of 4,500 positions, 1,400 of which will be in the Netherlands. The
remaining 40 per cent relate to other structural costs," Philips said.
Philips
employed about 1,20,582 people globally at the end of September
quarter. In India, the company employs about 9,000 employees across all
its units.
When contacted, a spokesperson of the Indian
operations of the company said, "At this point, most work streams have
not yet translated the impacted jobs to an individual employee level. In
the coming weeks, the functional plans will be further detailed and
shared with the countries."
All the reductions in a country, will
be coordinated at the country/location level with HR attaining the
necessary regulatory approval, the spokesperson added.
Commenting
on the global job cut, Royal Philips Electronics Chief Executive
Officer Frans Van Houten said, "We are in the middle of a multi-year
overhaul to become a more entrepreneurial and lean company."
The
cost reduction plan of euros 800 million has now been detailed and we
are in the process of deploying it across the organisation as we
optimise all overhead and support costs, not directly involved in the
operational consumer value chain.
"The cost saving programme will
lead to loss of approximately 4,500 jobs, which is a regrettable but
inevitable step to improve our operating model to become more agile,
lean and competitive."
The company made the announcement as it reported a slump in third-quarter profits as a result of loss at its TV division.
The
group's net profit for the three months ended September 30, stood at 74
million euros (USD 103 million), compared with 524 million euros a year
earlier.
The latest quarter results included a loss of 54
million euros related to Television business. Philips' revenues for the
quarter under review declined by 1.3 per cent to 5.39 billion euros.
"We
do not expect to realise a material performance improvement in the near
term," Houten said, adding the company is taking steps to achieve its
2013 mid-term financial targets, which included 4-6 per cent sales
growth by 2013 and an earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation
margin of 10-12 per cent.
http://www.rediff.com/business/report/philips-to-cut-4500-jobs-globally/20111017.htm