Nikkei: Toshiba to cut up to 7,000 jobs

Toshiba Corp is looking to cut up to 7,000 jobs, as it looks to streamline operations in the wake of an accounting scandal, the Nikkei business daily reported. Most of the 6,000-7,000 job cuts will be in the company’s lifestyle segment, which includes consumer appliances, the newspaper said.

Toshiba is also looking to “drastically” reduce operations at its Ome factory, Tokyo, which makes televisions and personal computers, and is considering stopping developing televisions altogether, according to the report.

The Japanese conglomerate’s chief executive, Hisao Tanaka, and a string of other senior officials resigned in July in the country’s biggest accounting scandal in years.

An independent inquiry had found that the CEO had been aware the company had inflated its profits by $1.2 billion over a period of several years.

Toshiba could not immediately be reached for comment outside regular business hours. Up to Monday’s close, the stock had fallen nearly 43% this year.