Lenovo cuts 1,100 Motorola jobs

Lenovo has laid off “less than two percent” of its employees, making a total of 55,000 about 1,100 people. Most of the layoffs have occurred at Motorola, which was acquired by Lenovo in 2014.

In a statement to the Droid Life site, which initially broke the news, Lenovo said “the majority of the layoffs are taking place as part of the ongoing strategic integration between Lenovo and Motorola.” Other parts of the company would also have to deal with ‘an adjustment’, Lenovo does not explain which parts exactly. The Motorola Mobility headquarters in Chicago, US, will continue to exist, the company adds.

Sources told Droid Life that the layoffs may have caused half of Motorola’s employees to be laid off. In addition, they said that the head office in Chicago would also be closed, but that now appears not to be the case.

Lenovo previously implemented a round of layoffs in the summer of 2015. At that time, the company terminated the employment contracts of approximately 3,200 employees. The layoffs followed a halving of profits. That year it also turned out that the Motorola part was in difficult waters, because the number of smartphones delivered had fallen by thirty percent. The name Motorola was changed to ‘Moto by Lenovo’ at the beginning of this year.