Motorola Splits R&D Centre in Half - Cuts 150 Jobs
Motorola has confirmed oft-rumoured plans and is cutting upwards of 150 jobs at its R&D division, Motorola Labs. In an email sent internally on Wednesday, the company said that roughly 150 out of the current 630 workforce will be cut and a further 180 staff will be moved to other jobs. The remaining 300 staff are committed to long-term projects and could not be moved to other departments.
Motorola Labs had until recently employed over 1,000 staff and lost its chief strategy and technology officer Rich Nottenburg, who resigned suddenly last month. It had been expected that the department would be split in half as part of the company's plans to hive off its handset division.
The internal email noted that the company is "currently assessing opportunities for eligible employees to apply for other positions within Motorola," - which presumably does not rule out redundancies. The company announced some 2,600 job cuts in April.
Motorola is also considering closing its UK handset design center and is looking to reduce its UK design workforce by around half. The design centre, situated in Birmingham employs some 120 staff and was acquired by Motorola when it brought the assets of bankrupt smartphone company, Sendo in 2005.
The company employs several thousand staff in the UK - but has already cut 150 jobs this year - mainly at its TTPCom subsidiary.
Posted to the site on 13th June 2008
