Panasonic to slash 15,000 jobs, forecasts first loss in 6 years

Panasonic, facing its first loss in six years amid slowing demand for consumer electronics such as TVs, said today that it will slash 15,000 jobs, according to a Bloomberg report. For the year ending March 31, the company forecast a net loss of 380 billion yen, or $4.3 billion, and a 15 percent drop in sales.

About half of the job cuts will be in Japan, with the other half distributed at operations around the globe, and should be complete in March 2010. The company will close 27 factories, 13 in Japan and 14 in other global locations. In a statement, the company said:

The current financial crisis [that] originated in the United States has spread across the world and the company's outlook [in] the business environment has been extremely uncertain. The company's business conditions have worsened particularly since last October, due mainly to the rapid appreciation of the yen, sluggish consumer spending worldwide and ever-intensified price competition.

Last week, rival Sony reported its first annual loss in 14 years and Toshiba forecast a record annual loss of about $3.1 billion for the year ending March 31. Yesterday, Hitachi reported a $4.1 billion loss for its third quarter and said it would reshuffle its executive leadership.