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Lenovo to lay off 2,500 staff to save $300m

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-01-08 09:50

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China's Lenovo, the world's fourth largest personal computer maker, is to cut 2,500 jobs, about 11 percent of its global workforce, said a company statement posted on the Hong Kong stock exchange website Thursday.

The statement did not say which of its international operations would see job cuts, but a company spokesman said the China operations would be unaffected.

"Although in the past three years, we successfully integrated the IBM personal computer business, the performance in the last quarter didn't reach our expectations," said Yang Yuanqing, chairman of Lenovo, in a statement on Thursday.

He said the measures would help ensure the company's operations grew efficiently in the "present unclear economic environment".

The company would merge its Asia Pacific operations with its Greater China and Russia operations.

Chen Shaopeng, Lenovo's president for the Greater China and Russia business, was appointed head of the new division.

Management and executive positions were among the posts to be cut, the company said Thursday.

The company will also cut $300 million of spending in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, the statement said.

Lenovo suspended trading on the Hong Kong stock market Wednesday amid speculation of an imminent restructuring. Trading resumed Thursday.

The company was forced to restructure by weak performance and "potentially huge losses" in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the statement.

Under the restructuring plan, Lenovo will also close its Toronto-based customer service center and move its operations to its Morrisville center in North Carolina, in the United States.