These are hard times, friends. The latest casualty in this economic downspin is Motorola Mobility, which announced it'll be eliminating 800 jobs worldwide, and 185 of those will be cut right here in Illinois. If you're furrowing your brow and wondering, "What the heck is Motorola Mobility?," that's perhaps the problem right there. The Libertyville-based division of Motorola is dedicated entirely to making smartphones, but Apple and the iPhone's combined ubiquity both cast a long shadow -- after all, have you played with that newfangled Siri thing yet?
Motorola Mobility became its own entity in January, which seemed like a savvy move come August, when Google announced it would be acquiring the company for $12.5 billion.
But then, late last week, when Motorola Mobility's regulatory filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission came out, it came to light that the tech company is incurring $31 million in costs from slashing these jobs ($27 million in severance) and closing facilities ($4 million). The facilities in Illinois are safe, for now, anyway.
Sources close to the deal told CBS that these shake-ups have no connection whatsoever with the coming Google takeover.
Sure thing, if they say so. The timing's a little suspect for them to insist that, though: Motorola's shareholders will vote Nov. 17 on whether the company will officially accept the offer.
