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The Japanese electronics maker Sony says it's to cut about 5% of its global workforce |
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and shut down 10% of its production facilities. |
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The move comes as new figures show Japan's recession |
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is deepening far more quickly than forecast. |
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The figures suggest that Japan's economy, the 2nd largest in the world, |
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shrank by 1.8% this year. |
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From Tokyo, here's Duncan Bartlett. |
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Sony says that 8,000 job cuts are necessary |
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in order to save company around 1 billion dollars per year. |
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It's already warned its profits will be less than half of those a year ago, |
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despite heavy promotion of its flat-screen TVs |
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and PlayStation 3, computer games machine. |
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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. |
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Small businesses are faring even worse with bankruptcy levels on a rise. |
