Rio Tinto set to cut 14,000 jobs and slash spending

Global miner Rio Tinto, saddled with nearly $40 billion (Dh147bn) in net debt, said it would cut 13 per cent of its workforce, slash capital spending by more than half and sell more assets as it battles a collapse in commodity prices.

Rio said it would reduce its global headcount by 14,000, including nearly six per cent of its own employees and more than half its contractors, and increase the range of assets it was looking to sell, but said it was too early to be specific. The group's shares had dropped 54 per cent in the past month, more than five times the drop in the broader market. Sweden's SKF, the world's biggest bearings maker, is axing 2,500 jobs because of declining demand.

Rio Tinto has been under pressure to detail plans to cut borrowings since its share price slumped after larger rival BHP Billiton scrapped a $66bn takeover bid for the company last month.


Sony axes 16,000 employees

Sony Corp's $1.1 billion (Dh4bn) savings plan for its electronics division is not enough and further restructuring is needed, analysts said, even as its shares edged up 1.1 per cent in a broad rally of Japanese stocks. The maker of Bravia flat TVs and PlayStation 3 video game consoles said it will cut 16,000 jobs, curb investment and pull out of some businesses to slash $1.1bn in annual costs as a spreading global recession ravages demand for its electronics products.

But analysts said further steps were needed for a sprawling Sony empire.

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