"Motorola laying off throngs"

[villager]

Source: Endgadget

Motorola laying off throngs, focusing on Android alone for smartphones

by Chris Ziegler

Phone Scoop is reporting that doomsday is imminent for Motorola, possibly as soon as this week.

First off, up to half of employees from the company's handset division will be shown the door, though the other divisions -- Enterprise Mobility Solutions and Home & Networks Mobility -- will be unaffected. Fewer employees inevitably leads to fewer phones, and it's being said that Moto will produce just twelve models per year; among smartphones, only Android will be considered.

What's more, the company is pulling out of April's CTIA show -- the largest mobile event in the States -- so it looks like that Android gear won't be coming until later on. We'll have more on this as soon as we know what's up.

Read more: http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/11/motorola-laying-off-throngs-focusing-on-android-alone/

[tritsofme]

1. Motorola is headquartered in my town.

I've been hearing of huge downsizing over the past ten years, even during the "good times"

[madrchsod]

2. remember the big announcement and hiring in Harvard,Illinois?

i think they decided to make analog phones just when digital phones became the standard..oops! sorry everyone.. bye, bye...

[TheWraith]

3. At first, I misread that as "Motorola laying off thongs."

Which just sounds... wrong.

[Buns_of_Fire]

4. That was the way I saw it at first. I wondered if they were doing undie checks now.

More coffee. Must have more coffee.:hangover:

[Warren Stupidity]

6. It is just another wedgie issue

[machI]

5. This doesn't look good

Motorola is one of our crown jewels in the communications industry.

Motorola sold its defense business for $825 million to General Dynamics in 2001. They can't even fall back on the Military Industrial Complex gravy train to pull themselves through.

[Ian David]

7. Why not, if they won't wear proper underpants. n/t

[Roland99]

8. How many are in the handset division?

That sounds scary.

[Vinca]

9. Laying off or laying off and outsourcing? nt

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

10. The absolute sleeziest thing Motorola is doing is

they are also trying to stop those they are firing from finding work with other telecom companies, Research in Motion the maker of the Blackberry is going to court to try and break the The non-compete agreement Motorola is trying to enforce against their terminated employees.

Which is as scummy as it gets since for most of those being let go Research in Motion is their only real job prospect,

[Xipe Totec]

11. It's time to make non-compete clauses illegal

either that, or make companies pay full salary and benefits to keep you on the bench for the duration of the non-compete.

Let's see how much they like non-compete clauses then...

[Javaman]

12. shouldn't that be "in throngs"? nt

[mfeher1971]

13. Sound like another one of their periodic contractions.

I worked there for almost three years and during that time they swelled in size, basically sucking up anyone who got near Shure Drive who had a heartbeat, regardless of intelligence. Then, nearly three years later, they contracted again the first of a seemingly endless processing of contractions. They are an old-guard, monolithic corporation that needs to come to grips that those days are over!

[RCinBrooklyn]

14. "throngs"