Cellphone maker to cut 1,900 jobs

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. -- Motorola Inc. is cutting 1,900 jobs at 29 different US and international locations in an effort to improve operating efficiency, the company said yesterday.

The cellphone maker said the layoffs will be distributed over its facilities in more than 20 countries and began in July, when it announced a planned consolidation of its supply chain facilities over the next several years.

Motorola's workforce will remain at about 68,000 since it is simultaneously adding staff in such areas as engineering and marketing, spokeswoman Jennifer Weyrauch said.

''This is about operating more efficiently and delighting our customers, it's not about a significant change in head count," Weyrauch said.

Motorola said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission late Tuesday that it will take third-quarter charges totaling about $70 million, pretax, for severance and $20 million of asset impairments associated with the moves.

Among the affected sites are Motorola's manufacturing plant in South Korea, which is being shifted to a design center, and a distribution and service center in Elgin, Ill., which is being sold to Communications Test Design Inc. of West Chester, Pa.

CTDI intends to keep roughly 280 of the Elgin-based positions and move another approximately 250 to its other locations, Motorola said, while Schaumburg-based Motorola will retain about 150 of the jobs, transferring most elsewhere in the Chicago area.

About 30 of the jobs will be eliminated.

Motorola shares are up 29 percent in 2005.