Lenovo lays off over 700 Motorola employees

Lenovo has started its latest round of layoffs that is set to hurt Motorola employees, yet again. Lenovo had acquired Motorola back in 2014, and the new move is aimed at streamlining workforce after another sluggish quarter. However, it is said to impact two percent of the overall workforce, which is 55,000 employees globally. The new number is pegged to be more than 50 percent of the remaining Moto workforce. According to DroidLife, over 700 out of the 1200 Motorola employees will be informed they’ve lost their jobs. An official statement from Lenovo states: Lenovo today announced a resource action impacting less than two percent of its approximately 55,000 employees globally. The majority of the positions being eliminated are part of the ongoing strategic integration between Lenovo and its Motorola smartphone business as the company further aligns its organisation and streamlines its product portfolio to best compete in the global smartphone market. The company is also making adjustments in other areas of the business as part of a continued effort to manage costs, drive efficiency and support ongoing improvement in overall financial performance. While these actions are never easy, they are a necessary part of our continued efforts to ensure long-term, profitable growth across all of our businesses. Lenovo is absolutely committed to Chicago and we plan to maintain our Motorola Mobility headquarters there. Chicago has a well-deserved reputation for technical excellence and as the hub of our global R&D for our smartphone business we expect to take advantage of local talent to continue developing Moto products there. Many see it as the last step to merge Motorola completely into their own business. It was not too long ago that Motorola was renamed Moto by Lenovo. The move, as stated above, is also a change in its strategy to improve financial performance. Meanwhile, AndroidPolice claims that Motorola has lost more than 95 percent of its employees in the last four years. It should be noted that Google acquired Motorola in 2012, and sold it to Lenovo in 2014.