Motorola Mobility Cutting 500 Jobs in Chicago

Will Moss, corporate director of communications for Motorola Mobility, said the layoffs are part of an overall restructuring by parent company Lenovo

Motorola Mobility has announced plans to cut 25 percent of its 2,000 Chicago employees, a spokesman for the company said Thursday.

Will Moss, senior director of corporate communications for Motorola Mobility, said the layoffs are part of an overall restructuring by parent company Lenovo.

Lenovo on Wednesday announced plans to reduce 3,200 people in its “non-manufacturing workforce around the world” following a 3 percent decrease in revenue from the previous year.

“Lenovo saw severe challenges in its main markets,” the company said in a release. “It faced significant declines in the global PC and tablet markets, as well as slowing growth and increasing competition – especially in China – in smartphones.”

The company said it plans to reduce expenses by about $650 million in the second half of this year and about $1.35 billion annually.

“To build long term, sustainable growth, we must take proactive and decisive actions in every part of the businesses,” Yuanqing Yang, Chairman and CEO of Lenovo, said in a statement.

Moss said the Merchandise Mart will continue to be the mobile device maker's headquarters and “the hub of our global R&D and design.”

“We’ll still have a substantial workforce there,” he said.
 

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