Motorola Mobility to cut 4,000 jobs

SAN FRANCISCO - Google on Monday confirmed that Motorola Mobility, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Internet search giant, will cut about 4,000 jobs or 20 percent of its workforce.

Two-thirds of the reduction is set to occur outside of the United States, Google said in a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to the filing, Motorola Mobility also plans to close or consolidate about one-third of its 90 facilities worldwide, and will simplify its mobile products offering by shifting the emphasis from low-end phones to more innovative and profitable devices.

The layoff is expected to cost Google nearly $275 million as the process incurs severance-related and other charges, which the company said will be largely recognized in the third quarter of this year.

Google closed the acquisition of Motorola Mobility in May 2012 with a hefty price tag of 12.5 billion dollars, in a bold move to beef up its strength in mobile computing.

Since the completion of the purchase, Google has taken a series of measures to turn around the money-losing cellphone maker.

The new changes including the layoff are designed to return Motorola Mobility's mobile devices unit to profitability, after it lost money in 14 of the last 16 quarters, Google noted in its filing.