[00:00.300]The Japanese electronics maker Sony says it's to cut about 5% of its global workforce
[00:05.520]and shut down 10% of its production facilities.
[00:08.680]The move comes as new figures show Japan's recession
[00:11.440]is deepening far more quickly than forecast.
[00:14.380]The figures suggest that Japan's economy, the 2nd largest in the world,
[00:18.270]shrank by 1.8% this year.
[00:21.510]From Tokyo, here's Duncan Bartlett.
[00:24.020]Sony says that 8,000 job cuts are necessary
[00:27.000]in order to save company around 1 billion dollars per year.
[00:30.780]It's already warned its profits will be less than half of those a year ago,
[00:34.400]despite heavy promotion of its flat-screen TVs
[00:37.480]and PlayStation 3, computer games machine.
[00:40.620]Many other large companies have also seen their profits
[00:43.610]decimated by a slump in sales and a rise in the value of the yen.
[00:48.370]Small businesses are faring even worse with bankruptcy levels on a rise.