Motorola Mobility to cut 800 jobs

29 Oct 2011

Motorola Mobility Holdings that recently agreed to sell itself to Google, said it will cut 800 jobs worldwide and incur $31 million in costs, according to a regulatory filing.

The Libertyville, Illinois-based mobile-phone maker will eliminate 800 jobs or about 4.2 per cent of its 19,000 workforce, before the end of 2011 as part of consolidating office spaces and reducing discretionary spending.

About 185 of the job cuts will take place at Motorola Mobility's offices in Chicago and in Libertyville, while the rest will be spread globally.

The company will record a net pre-tax charge of $31 million in the fourth quarter of 2011 related to the layoffs, comprising of $27 million in severance costs and around $4 million in facility exit costs.

A spokeswoman for the company said in a statement, "Motorola Mobility continues to focus on improving its financial performance by taking actions to manage the company's costs.''

She also said the moves are not related to Google's proposed acquisition.