MOTO employees protest layoffs in Beijing

BEIJING - More than 100 employees of the Beijing branch of Motorola Mobility demonstrated in front of the company's building on Friday, protesting massive staff cuts.

Staff members of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc in Beijing protest in front of the company's office building on Friday demanding "consultation on an equal footing". [Provided to China Daily]

On Monday, the company announced that it would cut nearly 4,000 jobs this year, accounting for 20 percent of its workforce across the world, and the job cuts also involved its branches in China.

Cutbacks in staff will reach 700 in the Beijing based company, said a software engineer of the company, adding that the company noticed the employees to sign the termination agreement within one day, and some pregnant staffs were seen on the list of the layoffs.

It is said that employees who lost their jobs gathered around the company's building in Chaoyang district in Beijing at around 11 am on Friday. The protest lasted more than one hour.

Some protestors held placards that said the company didn't negotiate with them before it made the decision and the staff cuts are "behind-the-scenes manipulation".

"Our compensation is higher than the national standard, and the staff cuts abide by the regulations," said Kevin Si, PR manager, adding that the company has maintained communication with its staff.

Si Saturday told Xinhua that those pregnant staffs can still work for the company or leave by their own choices, and the company will provide re-employment services for those people who are laid off.

Since Internet search giant Google completed its 12.5-billion-US-dollar acquisition of Motorola Mobility in May 2012, it has taken a series of measures to turn the money-losing cell phone maker around.

The new changes, including the staff cuts, are designed to return Motorola Mobility's mobile devices unit to profitability, after the unit lost money in 14 of the last 16 quarters, Google noted in its filing.