Sony Pictures to slash jobs in hundreds

LOS ANGELES: Sony Corp. plans to cut hundreds of jobs over the next 18 months at its Sony Pictures Entertainment film and television studio, according to published reports that Sony's top U.S. executive declined to deny on Wednesday.

A report in the Los Angeles Times put the number of reductions at 300 positions, while the Wall Street Journal said the total job cuts would number around 500. Both newspapers cited unnamed sources.

At a meeting of business leaders called Town Hall Los Angeles, Sony Corp. of America Chairman Howard Stringer declined to detail the cuts, saying employees had not yet been told.

"In terms of job cuts: I'm not denying it, but I'm not addressing it until we tell the people. This restructuring began two years ago and is unfortunate but necessary," he said during a question and answer period.

A Sony Pictures spokeswoman declined to comment beyond saying, "we are always looking for better and more efficient ways to run our business."

The film and TV unit employs about 6,000 people worldwide and, while the film studio enjoyed a banner 2002 at global box offices with hit movies like "Spider-Man" and "Men in Black II," this summer it suffered a couple of costly flops such as "Hollywood Homicide."

Shares in parent Sony Corp have lost about 20 percent since the start of the start of the year, badly lagging the Tokyo benchmark Nikkei 225 which is up about 27 percent.

The company plans to brief investors later this month on a three-year streamlining scheme designed to cut costs and boost its profit margin, particularly in its struggling electronics division.

Sony stunned investors in April by reporting an unexpected quarterly loss of almost $1 billion.

The Los Angeles Times quoted sources as saying the job cuts at the film unit could save as much as $75 million per year.

Earlier this month, Sony Pictures Chairman John Calley resigned, and the day-to-day job of running the studio is now in the hands of three executives, Columbia Pictures head Amy Pascal, marketing and distribution chief Jeff Blake and Yair Landau, who runs the digital technology and television groups.

Reuters