Google to Shed 4K Motorola Workers

After acquiring Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion this year, Google is slicing off a fifth of its workforce, laying off 4,000 workers, the company has confirmed. Two-thirds of the 4,000 cuts will occur outside the US; Google is also shutting down up to a third of the firm's offices worldwide, CNET reports. The company is hoping for "a return to profitability," according to an SEC filing.

Motorola "will be providing generous severance packages, as well as outplacement services to help people find new jobs," Google says. Severance charges could run up to $275 million. The New York Times, which first reported the news, offers a peek into the firm's future strategy. Motorola's research and development will be concentrated in Chicago, Sunnyvale, Calif., and Beijing, as its presence in Asia and India shrinks. Meanwhile, it will drop its cheaper phones, concentrate on fewer devices, and look to introduce wow-factor features, like days-long batteries and the ability to ID people in a room based on their voice. (More Motorola stories.)