Sharp Retires Early Retirement Plan Early

Sharp’s early retirement plan was supposed to run from November 1 to November 14. But the struggling Japanese company was forced to cut it short when it was overwhelmed by volunteers. Sharp said Tuesday it curtailed its early retirement program a week into its two-week run after receiving nearly 3,000 applications — 1,000 more than it had expected. The company will book a $311 million one-time charge this quarter to eliminate those jobs.