Sony (China) Ltd., which sells TVs and digital products, will implement a large-scale layoff across China that mainly targets regular employees in local offices.
According to reports in Chinese local media, Sony has over 40 subsidiaries and offices in 13 regions in China, including Beijing, Chengdu, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Jinan, Nanjing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wuhan, and Xi'an.
The first batch of offices to be shut down are reportedly located in Anshan, Zhuzhou, Yichang, Luoyang, Quanzhou, Neijiang, Zibo, Yantai, Huai'an, Xuzhou, and Nantong. Employees and managers in those offices have already received a layoff notice along with a compensation agreement.
In addition, an insider revealed that the Japanese company may implement the second batch layoffs around May 1, 2015.
Sony previously published its performance for the third financial quarter of 2014, stating that their profit reached JPY89 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 237.5%. The company also announced that they still made losses for the entire financial year of 2014; however, the losses were JPY170 billion, instead of the expected JPY230 billion.
On October 31, 2014, Sony announced reform measures for mobile phone businesses. Sony Mobile would significantly decrease its mobile business scale in China and of its worldwide layoff of 1,000 employees, about 700 to 800 would be from China.
