Recent reports from multiple foreign media outlets indicate that Panasonic Electric, a subsidiary of Panasonic Holdings, will implement an "early retirement recruitment plan" from October 1-31, targeting employees aged 40-59 with five or more years of service. Among these, employees around 55 years old could receive bonuses of up to tens of millions of yen.

This initiative is reportedly part of Panasonic's global restructuring plan involving 10,000 job cuts. Regarding this large-scale downsizing, Panasonic Electric China responded that "the relevant rumors do not involve China."

A source close to senior management in the China division revealed that "due to significant profit decline in fiscal 2024, Panasonic's board is currently dissatisfied with the company's operational status. Management has clearly indicated they will improve profitability through reforms to existing cost structures and business reorganization management." The source also admitted that while Panasonic remains committed to investing in China, "personnel optimization in some unprofitable departments is definitely happening."

**Early Retirement Recruitment "Does Not Involve China"**

Multiple foreign media reports indicate that Panasonic Holdings plans to recruit early retirement employees in fiscal 2025, with Panasonic Electric implementing this plan from October 1-31, drawing widespread attention.

Reports state that Panasonic Electric's month-long early retirement recruitment initiative is part of Panasonic Holdings' restructuring plan centered on global job cuts of 10,000 employees. The plan targets employees aged 40-59 with five or more years of service, as well as rehired employees. Among these, employees around 55 years old receive the highest bonuses, up to tens of millions of yen.

In May this year, Panasonic Holdings announced its global downsizing plan, stating it would cut 5,000 positions each in Japan and overseas starting in fiscal 2025, representing 4.3% of its global workforce of 230,000 employees. According to Panasonic at the time, the company's series of changes aimed to transform group operations toward organizations with higher per-employee productivity. Group companies would thoroughly review business efficiency, focusing on sales departments and indirect departments, and redesign necessary organizational structures and staffing levels. They would also promote termination of low-profitability businesses and consolidation or closure of facilities.

Industry observers view this 10,000-person downsizing plan's core strategy as providing "early retirement pathways" for employees in their 40s to 50s. In July this year, news about Panasonic Electric promoting "early retirement" for senior employees began attracting domestic attention, though the specific launch timeline wasn't clarified then. Such continuous news reflects the reality of Panasonic facing management challenges, making it difficult for Panasonic Electric's China division to remain unaffected.

**Major Restructuring and Splits Affect Chinese Operations**

A clear signal is Panasonic's recent announcement of plans to split and restructure its core subsidiary Panasonic Electric into three independent business companies. Panasonic Electric's Lifestyle Appliances Company, China Northeast Asia Company, and Panasonic Entertainment & Communication will jointly form the new "Panasonic Electric Corporation." Additionally, Panasonic Electric's Air Conditioning & Ventilation Company and Cold Chain Company will be reorganized into "Panasonic Air Conditioning Ventilation Cold Chain Group," while the Electrical Engineering Company will become "Panasonic Electrical Engineering Corporation."

The three independent business companies are expected to be officially established on April 1 next year. Subsequently, all businesses under Panasonic Electric's current system will be managed and operated separately by the three newly established business companies.

It's noted that in an organizational chart proactively disclosed by Panasonic Electric, the Beijing-based "China Northeast Asia Company" subsidiary has become one of the most affected companies in this restructuring process. Its three major business divisions - Smart Life Business Division, Housing & Building Space Business Division, and Taiwan Business Division - along with two major business units, Refrigerator Compressor BU and Vacuum Energy-Saving New Materials BU, will all have operations merged into the three newly established business companies for reorganization.

A source close to Panasonic Electric's senior management revealed that "under the new system launching in April 2026, businesses previously handled by China Northeast Asia Company will be undertaken separately by the three new business companies."

Established in 2019, Panasonic Group first created China Northeast Asia Company, combining business and regional management functions, with headquarters in Beijing. This marked Panasonic Group's first establishment of a business company outside Japan. Now, six years after China Northeast Asia Company's establishment, with the company's new round of organizational restructuring, the era belonging to China Northeast Asia Company is ending.

The source revealed that Panasonic's senior management has repeatedly discussed and expressed dissatisfaction with the company's existing cost structure this year.

"Reform is initiated to streamline structure for efficiency improvement. While domestic operations haven't explicitly mentioned layoffs, with so many dimensions of organizational structural changes, personnel will definitely be optimized or leave - it depends on the intensity and different business departments," the source stated.

**End of the "No Layoffs" Legend**

In Panasonic's development history, there's a widely circulated business anecdote - during the global Great Depression of the 20th century that swept Japan, when Panasonic faced severe operational difficulties, founder Konosuke Matsushita firmly refused to lay off employees. Instead of "stopping production and reducing output," he implemented "company-wide training," organizing workers to learn skills and study customer needs, both preserving everyone's livelihood and building capabilities for future resumption.

This approach not only prevented Panasonic from losses but actually led to gradually recovering orders due to "reliable quality and considerate service," subsequently surpassing competitors in market share and becoming Japan's home appliance industry leader. Today, with Matsushita's passing, new Panasonic management announcing global layoffs of 10,000 cannot maintain the founder's original commitment.

According to Panasonic's fiscal 2024 financial report, Panasonic's revenue was 8.46 trillion yen (1 yen ≈ 0.0479 RMB), a slight 0.5% decrease from the previous fiscal year; net profit was 366.2 billion yen, down 17.5% year-on-year. Both revenue and net profit growth rates lagged significantly behind domestic competitors like Midea, Haier Smart Home, and Hisense.

Discussing this performance, Panasonic Group CEO Yuki Kusumi sighed, "Compared to competitors, profits remain low, and regrettably, our medium-term strategy from fiscal 2022 to 2024 fell far short of targets." He reflected: "We've been unable to achieve significant growth for the past 30 years. Despite countless structural reforms, whenever operating profit margins reach 5% after adjustments, we immediately increase fixed costs to implement growth strategies, causing operating profit margins to stagnate again."

While domestic home appliance companies gradually expand globally, Panasonic, having completed internationalization early, finds itself trapped in a growth "slowdown" predicament.