Japan’s Panasonic to cut 15,000 jobs, shut plants

Panasonic Corp., which reported its first annual loss in six years, said Wednesday it will axe 15,000 jobs — or five percent of its global workforce — and close 27 plants worldwide in response to the global slowdown.

The Osaka, Japan-based manufacturer of cellphones, batteries and camcorders has a Georgia presence: Its Panasonic Automotive Systems of America, which employs about 600, is headquartered in Peachtree City.

But Jim Reilly, a Panasonic spokesman, said the list of specific facilities targeted for closure is not yet being made available.

“At this time, there’s no further information that we can offer,” Reilly said. But he added the focus of the closures will be “on the ones not meeting their goals.”

A major employer in Fayette County, Panasonic in September announced it would close manufacturing operations at the Fayette facility and eliminate about 500 jobs in 2009. But at the time it planned to retain headquarters and product development staff.

Panasonic’s decision comes amid a global economic slowdown that’s left the world’s two largest economies — the United States and Japan — in recession. Panasonic is being hit with the one-two punch of collapsing consumer demand and having to lower prices for its products. The knockout punch for the world’s largest manufacturer of plasma televisions comes from the strength of Japan’s currency, the yen.

Because it’s so strong, when revenue from foreign markets is converted back into Japanese currency, that translates to fewer yen on Panasonic’s bottom line. It reported a net loss of 63.1 billion yen ($709 million) in the fiscal third quarter, compared with a 115.2 billion yen profit the same quarter the previous year.

— The Associated Press contributed to this article.