Japan's TDK to cut 11,000 jobs worldwide

Japanese electronic component and data storage maker TDK on Monday said it would cut its global workforce by 11,000, or roughly 12 percent, amid cost-cutting measures to boost profitability. The reduction would take place over a two-year period, national broadcaster NHK reported. The group currently employs around 88,500 people, according to a spokesman. The company earlier reported a 74.3 percent drop in fiscal first half net profit from a year earlier to 6.7 billion yen ($84.4 million). In the six months from April to September, the group suffered a decline in sales of electronic components, which it supplies to sectors such as automakers and consumer electronics firms. TDK shares closed 1.20 percent lower in Tokyo trade on Monday ahead of the announcement. The firm is one of hundreds of Japanese companies whose production has been hit by Thailand's worst flooding in decades, with its four plants there suspended.