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Moto Slashes Workforce

Cell phone maker cuts more jobs as it readies spin off; takes $104M loss

By Jim O'Neill,  Newser User

Posted Apr 4, 2008 8:35 AM CDT

(Newser) – Troubled cell phone maker Motorola is laying off another 2,600 workers and will take a first quarter pretax charge of some $104 million to cover severance costs, reports the AP. Moto has cut its workforce by more than 10,000 workers since January 2007, as the company's . mobile phone business has crashed.

Last week, Moto caved to pressure from billionaire investor Carl Icahn to spin off the handset unit. Many of the job cuts, reports the Chicago Tribune, will come in Singapore, where much of Moto’s cell phone manufacturing takes place. The company releases first-quarter results April 24.

Billionaire financier Carl Icahn, right, and his wife, Gail, arrive at the Motorola annual meeting in Chicago in this May 7, 2007 file photo.
Billionaire financier Carl Icahn, right, and his wife, Gail, arrive at the Motorola annual meeting in Chicago in this May 7, 2007 file photo.   (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
A Motorola cell phone is displayed in a New York store on Wednesday, March 26, 2008.
A Motorola cell phone is displayed in a New York store on Wednesday, March 26, 2008.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Chairman and CEO of Motorola, USA, Edward Zander pauses before speaking during a working session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Chairman and CEO of Motorola, USA, Edward Zander pauses before speaking during a working session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.   (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
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