Ericsson Posts Q4 Layoff Surplus
The 5,000-plus layoffs Ericsson announced in 2009 evidently didn’t pare the company’s costs as much as it hoped. Ericsson said Monday that it plans to sack another 1,500 employees this year as it steels itself to compete in a tough market.
The cuts, which are not part of a previously announced cost-cutting scheme, come after Ericsson posted an appalling 92 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit. The company reported net profit of $43.4 million in the quarter, down from $539.4 million in the year-ago quarter. Sales slid 13 percent to $8.08 billion, down from $9.29 billion in the fourth quarter last year.
Needless to say, Ericsson’s performance fell well short of analysts’ expectations.
