Sony expected to cut 10,000 jobs

TOKYO, April 9 (UPI) -- The structuring of Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp. is to include 10,000 job cuts, sources told The Wall Street Journal.

The job cuts have not been made public officially but are expected to be included in company plans to be released after a corporate meeting Thursday, the Journal said.

Sony's new Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai is attempting to turn around a four-year string of losses. The key is to streamline the company without losing its reputation as an innovator.

Besides the job cuts, which amount to 6 percent of the company's payroll, Sony is said to be looking to unload peripheral companies, such as a chemical company it sold in March to the Development Bank of Japan.

A division that could see cutbacks is Sony's television business, which has not made a profit since 2003. The firm has already cut its goal of producing 40 million televisions a year in half.

To keep its edge as an innovator, yet adapt to the current business environment, the bulk of the job losses could come from the sales department, the Journal said.