Motorola says it will eliminate 4,000 more jobs

Motorola said Wednesday that it would cut another 4,000 jobs, or more than 6 percent of its shrinking work force, as part of a plan to improve sagging financial and operational results.

With the latest round of cuts, the company has announced plans to eliminate more than 10 percent of its work force since the start of 2007, when it became clear that two years of strong momentum behind the popular Razr mobile phone had collapsed.

The company’s travails caused it to be the target of a proxy fight this year by the billionaire investor Carl C. Icahn, who lost his bid this month for a board seat.

Motorola said Wednesday that Mr. Icahn had received 717.1 million votes, compared with 931.7 million for John A. White, the company nominee he was closest to defeating. All other Motorola nominees got at least 1.6 billion votes.

The company had been in the process of eliminating 3,500 jobs as part of a two-year cost-cutting plan to save $400 million. Motorola said the newly announced cuts, together with other cost-control measures, would save another $600 million in 2008.

Motorola’s work force, which stood at 150,000 worldwide as recently as 2000, had declined to 66,000 at the beginning of the year.

Wall Street gave modest approval to the latest cuts. Motorola shares rose 17 cents in after-hours trading after closing the regular session down 2 cents, at $18.28.

(Published by The New York Times, May 31, 2007)