Lenovo has confirmed reports that it is laying off scores of employees from its workforce all the world. However, the company is being less than forthcoming when it comes to which workers it chose to fire, only stating that it has shed less than 2% of its 55000-strong worldwide staff.
Two sources allege that Lenovo has in fact gotten rid of more than 50% of its Motorola employees. One pinned down the number to 700+ out of 1200. Such massive cuts have increasingly become commonplace ever since Lenovo took over the beleaguered brand back in 2014.
Over 200 Motorola workers reportedly lost their job about a year back and 500 a few months prior to that. The latest round of layoffs will probably serve to make the already meager staff become more skeletal. Even top executives like Rick Osterloh and Jim Wicks have left the former smartphone heavyweight.
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As picked up by Droid Life, one former Motorola employee who’s been with the firm for over 20 years confirmed the fresh round of firing via Facebook. He claims that Lenovo is looking to move more operations to China. One source asserts that this has been the dominant pattern for the past two years.
He also thinks Lenovo will relocate its staff members from Motorola’s headquarters in Chicago to the manufacturer’s US base in North Carolina. However, the latter has denied this rumor in a statement, declaring that it is committed to Chicago and plans to maintain its Motorola Mobility HQ there.
Lenovo for its part is explaining away the cuts as part of its ongoing strategic integration between itself and Motorola in order to align its organization and further streamline its product portfolio.