Around 15,000 jobs are for the chop at Hitachi after the Japanese manufacturer warned losses for the financial year would top $1 billion.

The company said today it would axe 10,200 jobs in Japan, and 4,500 overseas by March 2002.

The cuts, which represent around 4.5 per cent of Hitachi's global workforce, will mainly effect its semiconductor and display divisions.

The company also warned it expected to record a net loss of 140 billion yen ($1.2 billion), including restructuring costs of 80 billion yen, for the year ending March 2002.

Sales are forecast to fall ten per cent to 7.9 trillion yen for the year - down from the previous estimate of 8.8 trillion yen.

Meanwhile, Kyocera and Fujitsu also plan to reduce staff numbers. Kyocera has issued a profit warning and yesterday said it would reduce staff numbers by 10,000 at its overseas subsidiaries by the end of the year. Fujitsu aims to axe around 16,000 jobs worldwide. ®

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