Motorola to Eliminate

Motorola Inc. said it would cut another 2,600 jobs, bringing to about 10,000 the number the company has eliminated since the beginning of 2007.

Motorola, which is struggling to cope with a sharp plunge in cellphone sales, said it expects to take a first-quarter pretax charge of $104 million resulting from severance costs related to the latest job cuts.

The Schaumburg, Ill., telecommunications-equipment maker said the estimate is composed of $113 million in charges for severance costs, partially offset by $9 million in reversals for accruals from prior periods that are no longer needed, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Thursday.

The layoffs are the first wave of a planned $500 million cost-reduction for this year. "The work-force reductions are intended to make financial resources available for strategic business investment, while better aligning operational costs and expenses with business growth," Motorola said in a statement.

The company said all three of its business segments, as well as various corporate functions, are affected by these plans.

Included in the 2,600 jobs to be cut are 700 being eliminated as a result of Motorola's decision to end mobile manufacturing operations in Singapore by the end of 2008. Also included are 354 jobs in Plantation, Fla., where handsets for use on mobile broadband WiMax networks were being developed.