Sony Ericsson, Toshiba announce job cuts

Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson and electronics giant Toshiba announce major job cuts to save the firms in face of global economic crisis. Sony Ericsson says it would slash at least 2,000 jobs to secure 400 million euros (523 million dollars) of savings. The decision came after the company announced a loss of 293 million euros (384 million dollars) in the first three months of this year because of the worsening recession that has hit mobile phone demand. "As expected, the first quarter of this year has been extremely challenging for Sony Ericsson due to continued weak global demand," the firm said in a statement. At the same time Toshiba Corp. says it will go ahead with a plan to lay off 3,900 more jobs by next March as it earlier reduced some 4,500 of its temporary workers. The Japanese company predicted a loss of 350 billion yen (3.5 billion dollars) for its financial year that ended last month. Toshiba shares plunged 3.5 percent to 329 yen after the release of the news.