Japanese electronics maker Fujitsu Ltd on Wednesday said it planned to cut up to 1,200 jobs in Britain by the end of 2009 because of worse-than-expected sales. "Fujitsu Services operation in the UK has today announced a rationalisation programme across its workforce, proposing a reduction of up to 1,200 jobs. This measure is being proposed because of lower than anticipated revenues," the company said in a statement.
Fujitsu, which recently posted a quarterly loss, plans to shed almost a tenth of its workforce in Britain as it employs 12,500 people across the country. It said the decision was "necessary to ensure that the company remains competitive in the current difficult global economic climate and is in a solid position for future growth when the economy starts to recover."
The job cuts come as the number of unemployed in Britain climbs towards three million with the country still stuck in recession. The Fujitsu UK and Ireland business describes itself as an IT systems, services and products company with annual revenue of 2.0 billion pounds (2.28 billion euros, 3.25 billion dollars), servicing customers in the private and public sectors.
Fujitsu Ltd meanwhile fell into the red during its first quarter amid weak demand for computers but has raised its outlook for the rest of the year. Fujitsu last month posted a net loss of 29.20 billion yen (307 million dollars) for the April-June period, compared with a 344 million yen profit a year earlier.