Hitachi, NEC to cut 27,000 jobs

High-tech giants NEC and Hitachi said they were cutting up to 27,000
jobs as Japan Inc. buckles under the strain of the global economic
crisis.

NEC Corp. said it was slashing 20,000 jobs worldwide by March 2010 -
half of them regular workers - as it sinks deeper into the red. About
40 percent will be in Japan and the rest overseas, NEC president Kaoru
Yano told a press conference.

Hitachi Ltd. said it would shed up to 7,000 jobs as it forecast a net
loss of 700 billion yen (7.8 billion dollars) in the current financial
year to March. It will try to move full-time workers around within the
company to minimize job losses, company president Kazuo Furukawa said.

"We will take various measures but may not be able to avoid cutting
some regular workers," he said.

NEC announced the job losses after saying it expects a net loss of 290
billion yen (3.2 billion dollars) in the year to March as recessions
in major economies from Japan to Europe and the United States hammer
demand.

"It is regrettable that we have to announce such a big downgrade,"
Yano said. "We must cut waste."

Computer maker Fujitsu Ltd. said its net losses ballooned to 36.1
billion yen (403 million dollars) in the nine months to December, and
forecast it would end the year to March in the red.

"I have absolutely no confidence in the fiscal year 2009," Fujitsu
chief financial officer Kazuhiko Kato told reporters. "I have no clue
what the outlook will be."