Sharp to axe 2,000 jobs in Japan

Japanese electronics maker Sharp has said it plans to cut 2,000 jobs through a new voluntary retirement program.

As part of ongoing restructuring efforts, the struggling tech giant is going to offer the program at Sharp and its main subsidiaries during November this year. Those who are selected will officially retire in December.

The move is part of Sharp's efforts to better the balance sheet, streamline management and operations, and downscale certain production bases. As of the end of July, Sharp said it had over 30,000 employees in Japan, with another 32,000 based overseas. The voluntary retirement of 2,000 people in Japan makes up about 6 percent of the domestic workforce.

The television set and display panel maker estimates that the voluntary retirement scheme will cost the company 27 billion yen ($3.34 billion), of which the expenses have been included in the financial estimates for the end of FY2012.

Sharp recently posted a quarterly net loss of 138.4 billion yen ($1.76 billion), in comparison with a loss of 49.3 billion yen ($629 million) last year.

In addition to the voluntary retirement program, Sharp has considered slicing away another 5,000 of its workforce across the globe, and is considering the sale of two China and Mexico-based factories -- which could result in a further loss of 3,000 job roles.