Electronics will see the “headcount reduction”

Jan 26, 2009 20:01 GMT  ·  By

We live in very tough times, as the worldwide recession rears its ugly head on the whole world, and big industry branches are starting to feel its effects. For a lot of the big gaming corporations, which were supposed to be safe thanks to their products, things aren't looking so good. Among them, Electronic Arts, Microsoft and even big electronics corporation Sony have already announced that they will employ some very drastic measures in order to ensure their own profitability.

One of the companies that were hit the hardest was Sony, as the Japanese corporation announced that a lot of layoffs would be made, and some of the manufacturing plants would be shut down in the near future. The reason for such harsh measures is the fact that people aren't buying electronic goods as they used to, with Bravia LCD TVs, Cybershot digital cameras and PlayStation consoles sitting and collecting dust on the store shelves.

After the announcement made by the company's CEO, Howard Stringer, that headcount reductions would be made across all departments, including the gaming one, a lot of people were worried that the investments made by the Japanese company in the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable consoles would decrease, thus making them even more unpopular with customers. But these people needn't worry, says Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president David Reeves, as he recently issued an internal memo to all employees in which he states that the layoffs will affect the electronics department.

“This is still the case. He has just sent a message to employees here to that effect,” said a spokesperson for Sony. “As was the case with the previous Sony restructuring announcement, this mainly concerns our electronics business.”

So there you have it, it seems that things will be alright for the game department, but as the tough economic climate will begin to have an even bigger impact on large global corporations like Sony, which has already decreased its sales estimates for almost all of its products, other layoffs might ensue.