Recently, according to authoritative financial media such as Kyodo News, legendary giant Toshiba is planning to implement a large-scale layoff in Japan, with an expected number of layoffs exceeding 3000, accounting for about 5% of its total Japanese employees.

Toshiba further stated that this round of layoffs will mainly target employees aged 50 and above, and will be carried out through voluntary resignation. For employees who choose to resign before the end of November this year, the company will provide additional severance pay and promise to provide a two-year re employment support service to alleviate their worries.

It is worth noting that this is not the first time Toshiba has taken large-scale layoffs this year. As early as May this year, Toshiba announced that it would lay off up to 5000 employees in Japan, accounting for about 6%, with the aim of accelerating the restructuring process and reducing costs to improve operating profit margins. This round of layoffs undoubtedly demonstrates Toshiba's determination to seek transformation and breakthroughs in a challenging market environment.

01. Continuous layoffs and sales
As the country with the strictest labor protection laws in the world, layoffs in Japan are very rare. But with the historic labor shortage, more and more Japanese blue chip companies are starting to lay off employees.

Trade unions are striving for comprehensive salary increases, and employee mobility is also increasing. More companies are starting to recruit foreign employees to fill job vacancies in various industries, from retail to engineering. In recent months, several companies including cosmetics brand Shiseido, thermometer manufacturer Omron, and copier manufacturer Konica Minolta have announced plans to lay off employees.

Toshiba, once one of Japan's largest employers, has been working hard in recent years to reduce the costs of its massive business and focus on its infrastructure and digital technology businesses.
Before delisting in December last year, the company mainly chose to sell its business and divest its subsidiaries to complete this reduction. In May of this year, Toshiba announced that it would lay off up to 5000 employees in Japan, accounting for about 6%. This layoff will also be Toshiba's second major personnel adjustment after delisting.

 Recovery measures
In addition, in Toshiba's upcoming 2024 interim business plan, the company stated that it is taking a series of "recovery measures" to focus resources on expected growth in infrastructure and digital businesses.

Layoffs are only part of the plan. In addition, Toshiba is also considering merging its subsidiaries in energy, infrastructure, semiconductors, and selling loss making businesses.

02. When a whale falls, all things grow
The Meiji Restoration was the most important historical event in modern Japan's transformation into a powerful nation in East Asia and even the world. During the Meiji era, when learning Western technology and actively promoting modernization, a large number of modern industrial enterprises emerged, one of which was the industrial manufacturing plant founded by the famous Japanese inventor Hisashi Tanaka in Tokyo in 1875, the predecessor of today's Toshiba.
Another source of Toshiba is the White Heat House, the first company in Japan to produce white heat bulbs and desk lamps. In 1899, the White Heat House was renamed Tokyo Electric. In 1939, Tokyo Electric and Shibaura Manufacturing Co., Ltd. officially merged to form "Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co., Ltd." In 1984, the new brand name "Toshiba" was used, with the first letters of the original two companies.

Subsequently, after a century of development, Toshiba's business scope gradually expanded, with its commercial footprint spanning across numerous industries such as energy, electrical, electronics, industrial, medical, retail, and transportation. And it has set more than 40 firsts in Japan, such as the first radar, the first transistor TV and microwave oven, the first color video phone, the first Japanese word processor, the first laptop, the first DVD player, etc. It is a proud enterprise in Japan.

 Seize the beach and enter medical imaging
In the field of medical imaging, Toshiba entered the medical device industry in 1914 by developing Japan's first X-ray tube ball, and laid out the most cutting-edge medical imaging products, including CT, X-ray machines, MRI, US, etc. Our products are exported to 135 countries and regions including Japan, the United States, China, and various European countries.

In the field of radiology, Toshiba's heavy ion beam cancer treatment method developed using superconducting technology is currently the most advanced cancer treatment method in the world.

Toshiba once became a prime example of electrical companies transitioning into healthcare, with its medical device business holding a place in Japan and even globally. It's not an exaggeration to say that more than a decade ago in the imaging equipment market, GPS had to add a "T" after it.

 Sell medical imaging business
However, the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant leak left Toshiba in a slump. After struggling for four years, Toshiba first sold its pre sensor business in 2015, followed by the sale of its home appliances, laptops, semiconductors, and other businesses.

Its medical imaging business was officially acquired by Canon for approximately $5.9 billion in March 2016. In the financial report released before the sale, the medical business actually accounted for the smallest proportion of sales in the entire Toshiba Group, only 6%, but it is still the group's highest quality asset.

According to the sales revenue of 412.5 billion yen (approximately 3.6 billion US dollars) in the 2015 fiscal year, the medical imaging field ranks fourth after Siemens, GE, and Philips. From the perspective of global major applicants, the top five companies have a total of more than 40000 patents, accounting for 30% of the global patent total, while Toshiba ranks first.

At that time, Canon's medical products only included X-ray machines and DR, and its market share was extremely low. The acquisition of Toshiba Medical instantly expanded its product line, making Canon the backbone of Japanese imaging companies in fighting against the powerful GPS.

03. Three medical departments are retained
It should be noted that Toshiba has not completely sold all of its medical businesses. After selling its imaging business, the three healthcare businesses located at Toshiba headquarters, namely particle beam therapy devices, wearable devices, and genome analysis, have been retained. These three departments are still in the preliminary stage and will not have a significant impact on the company in the short term.

It can be seen that these three departments represent the future direction of technology and industry development in Toshiba's eyes. In recent years, Toshiba has also been committed to the research and development of superconducting related technologies, and has achieved solid results in the field of heavy ion cancer treatment.

In 2016, Toshiba collaborated with the Quantum Science and Technology Research and Development Agency (QST) of Japan to develop a heavy ion therapy system, and delivered the world's first treatment room that successfully achieved miniaturization and lightweighting of heavy ion rotating frames using superconducting electromagnets to the agency's new treatment research building in Chiba, Japan.

Based on the application of this technology, the two parties have been collaborating since 2019 on one of the core technologies of quantum surgical knives, the trial production and basic design of the electromagnet for superconducting synchrotron accelerator; By utilizing superconducting technology, groundbreaking miniaturization has been achieved (compared to existing devices). It is worth noting that the superconducting synchrotron can also cope with another core technology of quantum surgical knives developed by researchers such as Quantum Surgical, which is multi particle therapy.

In May 2022, Toshiba Energy Systems Co., Ltd. and its joint research partner B dot Medical lnc. conducted beam tests on an irradiation device for proton cancer treatment systems at the Osaka University Nuclear Physics Research Center, confirming that proton beams can be irradiated from a specified angle to an equal dose center. This means that the new compact irradiation device used for particle cancer treatment has taken a step towards miniaturization.

In March 2023, Toshiba also signed a lease agreement with Mizuho Toshiba Leasing Co., Ltd. (MTL) and QST for the prototype of a new generation heavy ion cancer treatment device (quantum surgical knife), which will complete the world's first superconducting synchrotron accelerator for heavy ion cancer treatment devices.

In November of the same year, Toshiba signed a 10-year cooperation contract with Shanghai Aipuqiang Particle Equipment Co., Ltd. and China Eliion (Shanghai) Medical Technology Co., Ltd. Intended to introduce the world's most advanced superconducting heavy ion technology into China.

Toshiba has retained its heavy ion beam therapy equipment department largely due to Japan's emphasis on radiation therapy over the years. Japan has always placed radiation technology in a "national system" position, with a higher level of recognition and independent research and development of new technologies than other countries. Meanwhile, this also reflects Toshiba's continued deepening of its layout in cutting-edge cancer treatment.

Source: http://qixieke.com/Font/index/detailPage.html?id=3275-19