Friday, March 8, 2013

Google laying off 1,200 Motorola workers

Google is laying off more than 1,200 Motorola workers, or 10 percent of its workforce, according to the Wall Street Journal.

This latest round of job cuts is in addition to the 4,000 jobs the tech giant slashed when it acquired Motorola in August. This latest move contributes to the theory that Google bought Motorola not for its people, but for its patents, reports Ars Technica.

Motorola Mobility, once a major player in the cellular phone market, brought with it a long line of valuable patents (about 17,000 in all), and that alone made it attractive enough for Google to buy its failing business division.

Google is expected to further whittle down its Motorola group by selling its set-top business, which employs an additional 7,000 workers.

For more of the Ars Technica story: arstechnica.com

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