Fujitsu to show the door to 15,000 staff

NEWS Fujitsu is set to axe around 15,000 jobs as part of a major restructuring exercise. The move is thought to be a reaction to the collapse in chip prices, which has been caused by the fall in demand from PC and telecoms companies, this morning's FT reports. Earlier this month, Fujitsu warned that net losses will grow to £1.23bn in the year to March 2002 - and hinted then that major job losses were to be expected. At the end of July, the Japanese giant said it was planing to offer early retirement to 21 per cent of its 42,000 strong workforce in a bid to cut costs. Up to 9,000 Fujitsu employees aged over 45 are eligible for the early retirement package. Extra pay and training will be offered to help former employees find work. Fujitsu is also going to quit the desktop hard drive business to concentrate on more profitable drives for servers and laptops. The company made that announcement in the first week in August, blaming tough competition and low margins in the desktop section of the hard drive industry for the decision.