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Motorola to shrink Bangalore R&D unit(The Economic Times (India) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) : Multinational handset vendor Motorola, which announced lower profits in fiscal 2006 and a downsizing of its workforce globally, is closing down its embedded communications computing business at its R&D facility at Bangalore. The company has invited other firms to recruit from its facility and Dell, Texas Instruments are among the firms coming for placements on Wednesday, sources said. Freescale Semiconductor, Motorala's semi-conductor division that was spun off as separate company, is also one of the firms participating in the recruitment exercise. A Motorola spokesperson confirmed the development. "As part of a regular practice of reviewing its current overall structure and business environment for long term strategic and business contributions, Motorola has decided to re-structure its embedded communications computing (ECC) business in India. Effective January 23, 2007 Motorola will phase out its ECC at Bangalore, India," the spokesperson said in response to an e-mail. He said the closing of the ECC business was not related to the global job cuts. Earlier this month, the firm had announced it would trim its total staff strength by 3,500 people, or 5% of its workforce, across various geographies. The downsizing and cost reduction measures were in response to a 20% dip in its 2006 profits. Its fourth quarter profits were down by almost 50%, despite higher sales. Sources said Indian IT majors, Infosys and Wipro, were also expected at the placements although it could not be confirmed. The Motorala spokesperson said apart from assisting with outplacement opportunities, the company was also offering the affected employees financial compensation and the option of getting re-deployed in other Motorola business divisions in India or the Asia-Pacific region. Around 90 employees are among those affected. In India, Motorala has R&D six centres at various locations in Bangalore and Hyderabad. Copyright 2007 The Economic Times of India, Coleman & Co Ltd. Source : Financial Times Information Limited |