RICOH TO SLASH 10,000 JOBS WORLDWIDE

[Anonymous]

RICOH TO SLASH 10,000 JOBS WORLDWIDE

Japanese office solution manufacturer, Ricoh, this morning announced that it will cut 10,000 jobs worldwide in order to consolidate core business capabilities.The office equipment maker has said which specialises in providing complete print solutions and advanced office technology has said the cost of itas current operations have become unfeasible. It plans to pare back its 110,000 global workforce it plans to cut its global workforce by 10,000 in order to concentrate on core offerings and drop unprofitable business.Explaining corporate strategy Shiro Kondo, president and chief executive said: "We have become a big company and need to re-engineer our corporate structure throughout to become more muscular."Ricoh employs around 4,000 people across the UK and the Republic of Ireland with 900 highly skilled workers employed directly in manufacturing at the company’s West Midlands Plant in Telford. This site became a specialist centre for the production of Ricoh’s Eco-Line product range in November last year. The range was launched as part of Ricoh’s corporate social responsibility commitments to protecting the environment and also as an extension of its foray into the green economy.

Ricoh has previously stated that it sees its sustainability strategy as a long term investment and a comment made by the company’s Telford-based product manager, Steve Mulroy at the Eco-Line launch indicated that customer demand for such products is strong: ““In the last twelve months, we have seen significant demand from public sector account customers who value the environmental credentials of this range of products.”

This said however, Ricoh has not yet detailed its strategy for implementing workforce reductions and with competition from cheaper companies in China and South Korea being an increasing concern the cost base of manufacturing locations will be sure to weigh in the balance.Ricoh expects the cost of making the cut backs to be in the region of 60bn yen but hopes to recoup 140bn yen in the next three years.

[Author]

June 1, 2011 at 10:37 AM