Motorola cuts Birmingham staff in half

Uh oh, it turns out Vodafone isn’t the only phone company laying off staff this week. Motorola employees in the company’s Birmingham factory were yesterday informed that they were at risk of redundancy, the Register reports.

All 121 staff in the Birmingham facility were told that no one was safe from the swinging axe, which will cut the number of staff in half. Motorola is also contemplating closing the site. Discussions regarding the redundancies will take place over the next ninety days and employees will more than likely be told to clean out their desks shortly after this.

Motorola said in a statement this morning,

"Since the beginning of 2007 Motorola has been public about its commitment to returning the company’s Mobile Devices business to its market-leading position by improving profitability, driving product portfolio enhancements and rationalising costs.

"As a result it is proposed that the Birmingham site will need to reduce headcount by approximately 50 per cent which may potentially require the closure of the site.

"Therefore, all employees will initially be placed at ’risk of redundancy’ whilst alternative opportunities including redeployment, relocation, flexible working/home working or the opportunity of a ’service site’ arrangement are investigated as part of the consultation process."

Read more on The Register.