Google Motorola Workforce Facing 10 Percent Cuts

Google is planning to cut 10 percent of its Motorola Mobility workforce, as 1200 employees face the chop.

Just months ago, Google announced it was to reduce the division’s workforce by 20 percent. It appears the cuts are now being enforced, since an email seen by the Wall Street Journal indicated the tech titan was not happy with the overheads at Motorola.

Impacted regions include the US, China and India. There was no word on any cuts in the UK.

Motorola ‘costs too high’

“Our costs are too high, we’re operating in markets where we’re not competitive and we’re losing money,” the email read.

A spokesperson from Motorola confirmed the cuts were “a continuation of the reductions” announced in summer last year. “It’s obviously very hard for the employees concerned, and we are committed to helping them through this difficult transition.”

Google paid $12.5 billion for Motorola in 2011, a large chunk of which was for a patent warchest, although the firm has not been hugely successful in its court battles with rivals, losing a recent tussle with Apple.

Not that it has made a huge dent in Google’s sizeable coffers. It emerged last week the company was sitting on $48 billion (£32bn) in cash, which should help it tuck into whatever market takes its fancy next.

Meanwhile, Motorola is seeing cuts across the world. Its South Korean facilities were shut down in December last year, whilst the division’s set-top box unit was sold for $1.5 billion in the same month.

Do you know all of Google’s secrets? Find out with our quiz!