International Electronics Business News on the 17th Troubled Japanese industrial giant Toshiba said on Thursday that it plans to lay off 4,000 employees in Japan as part of a restructuring plan.

01 Report about Toshiba

According to reports from Agence France-Presse and Jiji News Agency, Toshiba said on Thursday that as part of its efforts to increase the proportion of operating profit to revenue, it will lay off up to 4,000 employees, aiming to achieve an operating profit margin of 10% within three years (currently slightly higher less than 1%).

The company will also move its headquarters functions from Tokyo's Hamamatsucho area to Kawasaki City outside Japan's capital in the first half of fiscal 2025.

The announcement comes after the company's shares were taken private by a consortium and delisted in December after going through multiple crises.

The layoffs will be implemented through voluntary early retirement in November for employees over the age of 50 who meet certain criteria.

Large-scale layoffs are rare in Japan, but there has been a sharp increase in such early retirement plans or voluntary layoffs.

02 History of Toshiba

The former home appliance giant fell from the altar

Toshiba's history dates back to 1875. Toshiba, once a giant in Japan's manufacturing industry, provides businesses ranging from semiconductor chips to nuclear energy equipment. It was Japan's largest semiconductor company in the past and one of the world's largest manufacturers of PCs, home appliances and medical devices. However, since the accounting fraud scandal in 2015, Toshiba , has been hit by scandals and deep losses.

Then the company suffered a disastrous push into the nuclear energy business, forcing it to take a $6.3 billion write-down and sell off its "crown jewel" memory chip business, known as Kioxia Holdings.

U.S. nuclear power company Westinghouse, owned by Toshiba, filed for bankruptcy in 2017 after suffering years of heavy losses due to soaring safety costs.

Toshiba has been trying to cut costs across its vast business and seek to focus on its infrastructure and digital technology businesses. After two spin-offs encountered obstacles, Toshiba delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange in late December last year, bringing an end to its 74-year listing career.

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