mchen@heraldsun.com; 419-6636
MORRISVILLE -- Computer giant Lenovo cut its global work force by 2 percent on Tuesday, including about 32 workers at the company's U.S. headquarters in Morrisville's Research Triangle Park.
The layoffs were not part of a "large-scale resource program," according to Lenovo spokesman Ray Gorman.
The company slashed 11 percent of its work force about a year ago, leading to a loss of hundreds of workers in the Triangle. The RTP site now has about 1,600 workers.
"What we are doing is we are making very few specific, organizational moves around the world to drive efficiency and reduce our overall costs," Gorman said Wednesday.
The cuts occurred across the board, Gorman said, with no department or location being singled out, and the decisions were made according to employees' job functions.
Notices were sent to affected employees in Morrisville and around the world on Tuesday. Lenovo has about 21,000 workers globally.
Although the company's past three quarters showed growth, Gorman said the job cuts had to be made to ensure those would continue.
Fiscal third quarter 2009-10, ending Dec. 31, showed a 42 percent increase year-over-year in worldwide PC shipments. Sales totaled $4.8 billion for the quarter, with $99 million in profits.
"We're taking these tough actions now to ensure that our profitable gross continues," Gorman said. "These decisions are never easy, of course, but they help position our company for the future."
Lenovo has been rolled out several new products so far in 2010, including a new ThinkPad laptop and three new PCs this month.
