Panasonic to axe 15,000 staff

Electronics titan to close plants and reduce headcount as it braces for first yearly net loss in six years

Panasonic has become the latest Japanese electronics giant to announce job cuts after revealing 15,000 staff and 27 plants are set to be axed to help reduce its cost base.

The company claimed it is expecting to post a net loss of 380bn yen (£2.9bn) for its current fiscal year, which ends on 31 March. The job losses will account for five per cent of Panasonic's global workforce and will be completed by March 2010.

Half the jobs will be lost in Japan with the remainder coming from other locations. The company indicated that it hopes to facilitate annual cost savings of about 100bn yen during the next financial year.

This year's results will mark Panasonic's first yearly loss in six years and last year it made a net profit of 282bn yen. Despite the loss, the company is still wrangling to buy out rival Sanyo for about £6.3bn.

Panasonic has a number of UK staff, including about 1,500 across Cardiff and Newport who manufacture communications kit. It is the latest in a line of Japanese technology firms to announce job losses, with NEC set to lose 20,000 staff worldwide and Hitachi to shed up to 7,000.

Sony announced last week that it was to axe 16,000 jobs and close five or six plants. The move followed a lowering of its profit forecast by almost £4bn to predict its first operating loss in 14 years.