Moto Cuts 2,600 More Jobs

The layoffs aren't over at Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT).

The company, which began this year with 66,000 employees, is set to chop another 2,600 employees from its rolls, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing late Thursday. That's going to lead to a $104 million charge against first quarter earnings.

Severance costs will add up to $113 million, but Motorola gains $9 million back from "accruals from prior periods that are no longer needed."

The layoffs will be spread across all three of Motorola's business segments, according to the filing.

That brings Motorola's layoff tally to more than 10,000 during the past 15 months. In January 2007 Motorola announced it was axing 3,500 employees, and followed that by announcing additional layoffs of 4,000 staff in May 2007. (See Motorola to Cut Handset Staff? and Moto to Cut 4,000 Jobs.)

Of course, big changes are afoot at the company. Following pressure from investor Carl Icahn, among others, Motorola recently said it will spin off its handset division. (See Motorola Does the Splits, Icahn Sues Moto, and Motorola Eulogy.)

That news came after a spate of executive departures that included Stu Reed, the Mobile Device division's deposed president. (See Motorola Loses Ex-Handset Head and More Moto Exec Shakeouts.)

— Craig Matsumoto, West Coast Editor, Light Reading