Powering Down: Toshiba Sees Massive Job Cuts As TV Sector Dwindles
Breaking Bad may be all the rage on the television waves, but it appears that folks aren't buying new sets to catch hot new shows on... at least, not at the torid pace that we were seeing a decade ago. As the hype surrounding the HDTV has cooled, and many families have already made the leap into the HD universe, OEMs far and wide are facing massive demand issues. Profit margins in the HDTV universe are already wildly low, and Toshiba has just announced that it will have to hack around 50% of its TV staff in order to try and make the unit profitable once more. In sum, two of its three overseas factories are going to be shut down by the end of this fiscal year.
In order to make ends meet, it's going to rely more heavily on outsourced labor, and some 400 employees that weren't cut would be repositioned to new roles in other business units. Toshiba's TV unit has been bleeding cash for the past two years, blamed largely on week demand. We've seen rivals such as Sony suffer similar heartache in the TV arena, and honestly, no one really seems to have an answer.
4K HDTVs will provide something of a boost, but until they're affordable for the masses, it won't be in any shape to save an entire business.
In order to make ends meet, it's going to rely more heavily on outsourced labor, and some 400 employees that weren't cut would be repositioned to new roles in other business units. Toshiba's TV unit has been bleeding cash for the past two years, blamed largely on week demand. We've seen rivals such as Sony suffer similar heartache in the TV arena, and honestly, no one really seems to have an answer.
4K HDTVs will provide something of a boost, but until they're affordable for the masses, it won't be in any shape to save an entire business.
