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Panasonic will slash its workforce by 10,000 roles in an effort to boost efficiency.
The Japanese electronics manufacturer, which supplies batteries to Tesla through its subsidiary Panasonic Energy, plans to cut 5,000 roles in Japan and 5,000 overseas. That amounts to about 4% of its nearly 230,000-strong workforce.
In a statement on Friday, Panasonic said it planned to “thoroughly review operational efficiency … mainly in sales and indirect departments, and reevaluate the numbers of organisations and personnel actually needed.”
“Through these measures, the company will optimize our personnel on a global scale,” the statement added.
The cuts will take place this financial year, which ends in March 2026, “in accordance with the labor laws, rules, and regulations of each country and region.”
The cuts are expected to incur costs of almost $900 million.
Panasonic shares closed 2% higher in Tokyo.
President Donald Trump‘s tariffs and trade war with China have made the global economic outlook more uncertain this year.
In January, Panasonic Energy said it wanted to curb its reliance on China for EV batteries.
“We do have some Chinese supply but we don’t have a lot,” Allan Swan, the president of Panasonic Energy of North America, said at the time. “And we have plans not to have some, as we go forward, and that has accelerated.”
In 2022, Panasonic opted into the government-recommended four-day workweek in Japan, which aimed to reduce the number of employees country falling ill or even dying from overwork.
CEO Yuki Kusumi told investors at the time that the company “must support the well-being of our employees.”
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