Fujitisu announces job cuts

The Japanese chip and PC giant Fujitsu is to cut 16,400 jobs because of the global slump in demand for technology.

Two-thirds of the cuts will be outside Japan.

The cuts follow the company's NZ$1.03 billion loss for the quarter to June this year, and its warning that the full year could see a loss as big as $4.12 billion, the BBC reported.

With no recovery foreseen until next year at the earliest, the job cuts will probably mean Fujitsu pulls out of chip manufacturing in the US.

Like similar other companies, Fujitsu has suffered from slowing demand for chips and other components, and from the world wide effect of corporations slashing IT spending.

Last month, Fujitsu announced a plan to offer 9,000 workers over the age of 45 a voluntary early retirement package.

The group has suspended production at three plants in Japan and shut down Fujitsu AMD Semiconductor Limited, its joint venture with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

Fujitsu is also reviewing its US flash memory plant in Oregon, which it shares with ADM.