Toshiba’s privatization was expected to lay the groundwork for major changes, and the company rightly implemented them this week in the form of massive job cuts and a new strategy.
On Thursday, the company announced it would cut up to 4,000 jobs as part of its restructuring. The storied company, which went private in December following a ¥2 trillion ($13 billion) takeover by private equity firm Japan Industrial Partners (JIP), is revamping its business with a bang.
The combination of Vice President Koji Ikeya, a former Mitsubishi Motors CFO whose tenure coincided with job losses at the automaker, and a profit-oriented private equity firm means that Toshiba is now backed by a leadership well-practiced in cost-cutting measures. which in this case is concentrated on the older, higher-paid part of the working population through an early retirement incentive program.
