The closer Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) gets to acquiring Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc (NYSE:MMI), the closer they are to reaching a decision on whether or not they’re going to lay off Motorola employees. This report comes from TechCrunch and their unidentified sources. At press time, it’s unknown how many employees would be affected by the layoffs.
Last August, Google announced their decision to acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. That was about 63% off their shares. The United States Justice Department and the European Union officially approved the deal last winter but Google just gave their approval to seal the deal this weekend because China’s regulators said it was okay.
The acquisition should be official by Wednesday.
This wasn’t the first-time Google has been involved in mass layoffs. Four years ago when the search company bought up advertising agency Double Click and laid off 300 of their employees. The company then released a statement that the merger would lead to transitioning employees and laying off many others.
Google is currently involved in a few patent lawsuits and many speculate that this acquisition is a move to enhance their portfolio and work in their favor. Larry Page(chief executive officer) even announced that this company deal would benefit them two-fold: it would help strengthen their portfolio of patents and fight up patent lawsuits.
It’s a bad thing whenever company layoffs are imminent. It’s bad for the employees who lose their jobs but it’s bad for the companies who end up losing some of their best talent. Perhaps Google should revaluate their company goals to accommodate growth and retain their top employees. Over the day or so, we should hear more about the merger. Then in the following weeks, we should find out whether Google actually lays off Motorola employees. It’s possible that they may not lay off many people after all.
