Toshiba slashes jobs amid IT slump

Japanese manufacturer Toshiba Corporation said today it was slashing 17,000 jobs, or about 10% of its global work force, amid a worldwide electronics slump.

Toshiba said almost all the job cuts would be in Japan, where it would reduce its work force by 12%.

The company has 188,000 employees worldwide.

The announcement is the latest in recent job cuts announced by Japanese electronics makers.

Fujitsu is trimming 16,400 jobs, or 9% of its workforce, mostly overseas jobs.

NEC Corporation has said it would cut 4,000 jobs by next March in an effort to turn around its computer chip division.

Hitachi is also expected to be deciding on job cuts, Japanese media reported.

The series of job cuts threatens to exacerbate Japan’s unemployment rate, already at a record 4.9%.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Company, makers of the Panasonic brand, is trying to trim several thousand jobs in its group through voluntary early retirement.

Toshiba’s decision was unusual for a company whose image has long been tied with Japan’s system of lifetime employment, in which workers are promised jobs for life in return for loyalty to the company.