Kyocera cuts 10,000 jobs

All jobs will be cut from its international operations

Japanese ceramics maker Kyocera has said it is to cut 20% of its work force, or 10,000 employees, by the end of this year.

The company, which is famous for its ceramic knifes and integrated circuits, plans no cuts in Japan and declined to specify where they would come in its international operations.

A large number are likely to be at its US subsidiaries, such as money-losing mobile phone maker Kyocera Wireless Corp (KWC) which employs 2,000 people and circuit board drill maker Tycom.

No job losses are expected in the UK, a Kyocera spokeswoman told BBC News Online.

The radical restructuring comes after the company slashed its profit forecasts for the year to March 2002, blaming the slowdown in global demand for electronic goods.

Unkind cut

Kyocera's job cuts come after similar action from Japanese electronics giants Fujitsu, NEC and Toshiba amid Japan's worst economic slowdown in a decade.

Kyocera employs about 8,000 people in the US and has operations throughout Asia and Europe including the UK.

KWC was formed last year after Kyocera bought the mobile phone manufacturing unit of Qualcomm. The company bought Tycom early this year.