When your company is in trouble and you’re looking to cut overheads, how sensible is it to can half your design team?  That’s the question undoubtedly being asked in Birmingham, UK, after the news that Motorola is looking to make half of the 121 staff there redundant in three months time.  All employees at the design facility were told on Tuesday that they were at risk of redundancy, as Motorola look into possibilities of “redeployment, relocation, flexible working/home working or the opportunity of a ’service site’ arrangement” that would see the site closed and any remaining staff moved elsewhere.

“Since the beginning of 2007 Motorola has been public about its commitment to returning the company’s Mobile Devices business to its market-leading position by improving profitability, driving product portfolio enhancements and rationalising costs.  As a result it is proposed that the Birmingham site will need to reduce headcount by approximately 50 per cent which may potentially require the closure of the site” Motorola statement 

With Q4 2007 sales down 38-percent compared to the previous year, Motorola is under pressure to return business to an even keel.  The redundancies will follow multiple management shake-ups including the departure of their Chief Marketing Officer and the replacement of Tom Meredith, the Chief Financial Officer credited with much of the cost cutting undertaken to date.

So far no other UK sites are being threatened with job losses.

[via CrunchGear]