Japan's Sharp to slash 1,500 jobs after incurring first loss in 55 years

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

TOKYO, Feb. 6 (Chinese media) -- Japan's electronics maker Sharp Corp. said Friday

it would slash 1,500 domestic jobs as the electronics maker predicted its

first-ever operating loss this year due to the recession.

The company now expected a group operating loss of 30 billion yen (333

million U.S. dollars) for the current fiscal year through March, the first

full-year loss since it began releasing earnings results on an operating level

in 1953.

"We have decided not to renew 1,500 contract workers in Japan," Tetsuo

Onishi, the company's director for accounting, told a news conference.

The company will also not pay a summer bonus in June, leading to a 30 to 50

percent wage cut in annual terms to cut expenses.

The projected loss compares with its October forecast of 130 billion yen

(1.4 billion dollars) in operating profit and a year-earlier profit of 183.69

billion yen (2.04 billion dollars).

In addition, it will also close production lines for liquid crystal display

panels at two plants in western Japan.

The company's mainstay LCD business suffered a huge blow as demand shrank

amid the global economic downturn.