Ericsson to trim 1,500 jobs
Ericsson it is cutting 1,500 jobs from among its 80,000 global employees, the wireless equipment maker said Monday.
The company reported on Friday a huge downturn in fourth quarter and full-year 2009 earnings. For the quarter ended December, Ericsson saw its net earnings plummet 92 percent to 314 million million kronor ($43.4 million dollars), compared with the year-ago quarter. Sales dropped 13 percent to 58.3 billion kronor from the year-ago quarter.
For all of 2009, Ericsson's earnings were down 67 percent to 3.7 billion kronor ($512 million). Annual sales survived, though, falling only 1 percent to 206.5 billion kronor over the previous year.
The 1,500 job cuts are in addition to 5,000 layoffs Ericsson announced about a year ago after a 31 percent drop in 2008 fourth-quarter earnings, bringing the total to 6,500. After layoffs and budget cuts are completed around the second quarter of this year, the company is looking to save around 15 billion to 16 billion kronor ($2.1 billion to $2.2 billion) annually.
Ericsson is also hoping that new Chief Executive Officer Hans Vestberg can help steer the company to a recovery. Vestberg, who was chief financial officer, replaced former CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg on January 1.
The company has been buffeted by a number of factors, including a decline in spending on wireless equipment, tighter competition, and poor results from its Sony Ericsson joint venture.
Lance Whitney wears a few different technology hats--journalist, Web developer, and software trainer. He's a contributing editor for Microsoft TechNet Magazine and writes for other computer publications and Web sites. You can follow Lance on Twitter at @lancewhit. Lance is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and he is not an employee of CNET. 
Does big business owe you a living? There is a similarity to family life. When a family runs low on money, it cuts out things it can do without. Big business is in business to make money. That's the motivation. When big business stops making money, it cuts back on those things that are not profitable. You appear to be looking for a sinecure, a job you cannot lose. I don't know of many. Most sinecures are creations of the government, by the way. And history has already proved that governments are basically corrupt. If you can't cut it, you don't survive. That's the long and the short of the capitalistic system. Want something different? Move.