Google to slash 4,000 Motorola jobs, focus on high-end smartphones
Google are preparing to cut 20% of Motorola staff following the finalised buyout of the mobile company back in May.
When Google first announced it was to be purchasing Motorola back in August, many assumed it would be to take control of Motorola’s many mobile patents. That now seems only partly the case; Google are looking to streamline both the Motorola workforce and the company’s device output, concentrating on fewer, high-quality phones.
According to a NYT report, Google will also support Motorola’s plans “to leave unprofitable markets, stop making low-end devices and focus on a few cellphones instead of dozen”.
Speaking to the paper, Dennis Woodside, new Motorola CEO and Google sales-leader, added:
“We’re excited about the smartphone business. The Google business is built on a wired model, and as the world moves to a pretty much completely wireless model over time, it’s really going to be important for Google to understand everything about the mobile consumer.”
The plans for this new batch of MotoGoogle smartphones do sound excellent though. Looking to make Motorola’s products “cool again”, the two companies are working together to research features like “sensors that recognise who is in a room based on their voices, cameras that take crisper photos and batteries that last for days.”
It’s sad that this has to come at the expense of job cuts though. 20% of Motorola’s workforce amounts to 4,000 jobless people, one third of those based in the US. A third of Motorola’s 94 global offices will also be closed down.
