40,000 jobs to go globally

Toshiba will cut 20,000 jobs from its workforce of 190,000 to cope with deteriorating earnings in its semiconductor business, and it is also reported that Hitachi is about to cut 20,000 jobs from its 340,000 workforce because of falling world demand for chips and other IT products.

Hitachi is making final adjustments to its plan to cut jobs in the semiconductor, electronic-devices and electronic-components divisions, the Yomiuri newspaper said. Last year Toshiba eclipsed NEC Corp in semiconductor sales to become Japan's biggest chip manufacturer, but its earnings deteriorated significantly in the wake of falling product prices, forcing it to curb capital spending and scale back production. Earlier this year Fujitsu announced a job cut of 16,000 and NEC announced 4,000 cuts.

Toshiba will release a restructuring program when it revises its business outlook for the current business year next week, the officials said. Some Toshiba workers abroad will be dismissed, it said.