Chinese manufacturer Lenovo today confirmed that it’s firing a significant chunk of employees, most of them reportedly hailing from the Motorola Mobility smartphone division. According to Lenovo, the current round of layoffs is a part of its “ongoing strategic integration between Lenovo and its Motorola smartphone business as the company further aligns its organization and streamlines its product portfolio to best compete in the global smartphone market.”
The news was initially reported by Droid Life, which claims that over 50 percent of Motorola’s existing workforce based in the United States have been laid off. The report further added that over 700 employees out of the current total of 1,200 Motorola employees have been asked to leave the company. Besides, the report also cites a 20-year veteran of Motorola who also claimed he was part of the current layoff.
However, Lenovo did not reveal an exact number of employees laid-off from the Moto phone division. Though it did mention its plans to keep its Motorola Mobility headquarters in Chicago, debunking speculations that it may shift the remaining employees to North Carolina where Lenovo has its base in the United States. Lenovo further added –
Lenovo is absolutely committed to Chicago and we plan to maintain our Motorola Mobility headquarters there. Chicago has a well-deserved reputation for technical excellence and as the hub of our global R&D for our smartphone business we expect to take advantage of local talent to continue developing Moto products there.
To recall, Lenovo’s first major layoff was back in 2009 when the company made around 2500 jobs redundant, laying off 11 percent of its staff that time. While the company bought the iconic Motorola brand from Google in 2014. Now with the company in the middle of integrating Motorola, Lenovo regulating its Moto products in the entire Lenovo smartphone lineup. As they’ve witnessed a slight increase in prices.
Besides, Lenovo has revamped Motorola Mobility’s organizational structure that has seen most of the Motorola employees leave the company. Notably, this isn’t the first time Lenovo has fired Motorola employees, as Chicago Tribune earlier reported that Motorola witnessed layoffs in August as well as in October last year.
