Sony announced today that they will be making extreme cuts to it’s work-force over the next two years. Bloomberg is reporting cuts of up to 8000 full time employees and another 8000 part time employees, which equals around 10% of it’s total work-force. They believe they can save upwards of $1.1 billion by 2010 by closing some of their facilities and outsourcing the work.
It’s fairly well known that I’m no fan of Sony’s gaming console but I truly feel sorry for everyone who will be affected by these cuts. These are tough times for everyone and it seems to grow worse each day. My sister actually works at one of the plants getting the axe…..
WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. — Sony will shut down its flat-screen television plant in East Huntingdon and Hempfield as part of a company-wide downsizing that will cut 8,000 jobs.
Employees at Sony Technology Center-Pittsburgh were notified that they would be losing their jobs at a meeting on Tuesday afternoon.”They said they’re phasing out some areas of the building sooner than others,” technician Tim Myers said.
The plant has gone through several years of change and different attempts to survive since it opened in 1992.”I went through when CRT closed, then I was moved to the LCD section, and now I’m going through it all again,” Myers said.Just four months ago, the plant reported high demand for Sony’s LCD models in August. Tuesday’s news was an unexpected blow.”I’m surprised, disappointed, but the handwriting’s on the wall for a lot of American workers,” said Frank Schollaert, of New Stanton.The plant employs 790 people in what used to be a Volkswagen production facility. It is Sony’s only northeastern plant in the United States.Gov. Ed Rendell said the state will offer retraining and job placement services to local Sony employees who are losing their jobs.”I’ve turned down jobs because I wanted to hang it out here,” Myers said. “This place has been good to me, but got to move on.”
Source: ThePittsburghChannel.com
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