In a move which has suprised many, Motorola have said they are looking to make up to 50% of their Birmingham UK based staff redundant. The Birmingham design centre is where the Moto Z8 and to a lesser extent the Moto Z10 & 12 have been developed.

 

Most of the staff based in the Birmingham office are ex-Sendo employees who transferred to Motorola following Sendo's collapse in 2005 and most of them are in the R&D or testing departments. It was these people who developed the Z8 almost in secret from the rest of Motorola and these people who are now heading up Motorola's resurgence into the UIQ arena. With the Z10, Z12 / Skarven, Texel and other handsets still to be finished / launched, it seems very odd of Motorola to want to get rid of the people who made these handsets possible.

 

In a statement released today, Motorola said:
"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.

Therefore, all employees will initially be placed at 'risk of redundancy' whilst alternative opportunities including redeployment, relocation, flexible working/home working or the opportunity of a 'service site' arrangement are investigated as part of the consultation process."