Sharp to cut 5000 jobs, first since 1950

Japan's Sharp will slash 5,000 jobs by March, reports said Thursday, its first cuts since 1950 as it is hit by a prolonged slump in its key television and liquid crystal display sectors. The firm, which employs 57,000 people globally, has seen operations suffer amid worries over high energy prices, a high yen, slow domestic demand and global economic uncertainty. It had originally considered cutting about 3,000 domestic jobs, but decided to expand the scope to include worldwide operations to accelerate a management restructuring, Kyodo News said. Meanwhile, Sharp executives will take pay cuts of 20-50 percent, compared with originally planned 10-30 percent, Kyodo and broadcaster NHK said. A Sharp spokeswoman declined to comment on the reports, but said president Takashi Okuda will address the media from 0900 GMT in Tokyo, three hours after posting its April-June earnings. Sharp is expected to announce a quarterly net loss around 100 billion yen ($1.27 billion), the Nikkei business daily said last month. The firm expects to end this fiscal year in the red after logging a record $4.7 billion net loss up to March 2012 as global sales of its LCD televisions slumped. However, Sharp has expressed hope that increased efficiency and synergy with new Taiwanese partner Hon Hai Precision should help it return to operating profit of 20 billion yen in the year to March 2013.