CHICAGO (AP) — Motorola Mobility has announced it is cutting 500 jobs at its Chicago headquarters, about a quarter of its workforce of about 2,000.
Motorola Mobility spokesman William Moss says the layoffs got underway Thursday and will continue for the next few weeks.
Moss says the maker of mobile devices is reducing costs by streamlining at all levels. He said Chicago will remain Motorola Mobility’s headquarters and “the hub of our global R&D and design efforts.”
The dismissals are part of a major restructuring at Lenovo, Motorola’s parent company. Lenovo reported a slowdown in computer sales in the most recent quarter, when Motorola also saw a 31 percent drop in phone shipments from a year ago.
In announcing its restructuring, Lenovo said the Beijing-based company will be relying more heavily on Motorola “to design, develop and manufacture smartphone products.”