Toshiba slashes 18,800 jobs

Toshiba has dealt a fresh blow to the embattled tech sector by announcing plans to axe 18,800 jobs worldwide.

The move, which is unlikely to hit workers in the UK, comes as competitors scale back resources to reflect a slump in demand for IT products.

Computer firm Fujitsu has already unveiled 16,400 job cuts, while reports from Japan today suggested that Hitachi could follow suit.

Toshiba expects to lose around 10% of its 190,000 strong workforce, with 17,000 of the cutbacks coming in Japan, where the firm has 144,000 staff.

The company said: "The dramatic economic slowdown that began in the United States at the end of 2000 is becoming a global phenomenon that has undermined worldwide demand for IT."

It also revised its financial forecasts for the year and warned that it would make a net loss of 115bn yen (£664m) in the year to March 31.

That compares with previous expectations of a 60 billion yen profit (£346m).

The company has about 4,000 staff in Europe, including at a plant in Plymouth, Devon, which makes televisions and air conditioning systems.

It also has its European headquarters for consumer products at Frimley, Surrey, and research and development bases at Cambridge and Bristol.

A spokesman in Tokyo said it was unlikely that any jobs would be lost in Britain as a result of today's announcement.

Toshiba said in a statement that it would look to expand its overseas manufacturing plants in order to enhance competitiveness.

The latest cutbacks are being most keenly felt in Japan, where the country's unemployment rate is already running at a record 4.9%.

NEC Corporation has said it will cut 4,000 jobs by next March in an effort to revive the fortunes of its computer chip division.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Company, makers of the Panasonic brand, will look to trim several thousand jobs through early retirement.

Fujitsu's job losses, announced last week, will result in 220 positions going at a UK-based telecommunications business, while some losses are expected at its London-based subsidiary ICL.