Report: Motorola executives leaving amid job cuts, uncertainty

Motorola executives Yvonne Verse and Tracey Koziol are said to be among the latest round of jobs cuts at the handset maker, which is set to report dismal fourth quarter results tomorrow, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Verse, who was in charge of strategic partnerships, business development and intellectual property, and Koziol, who oversaw product development for the handset maker, are said to be leaving the company, according to the article, which cited people familiar with the situation. The two executives could not be reached for comment and Motorola would not comment on specific job cuts, saying "employees at all levels of the organization will be impacted."

Motorola also renewed its commitment to developing handsets for the Windows Mobile platform. Rumor had circulated that the company was abandoning its efforts on the OS following job cuts for employees working on the platform.

Motorola announced in mid-January that it would be cutting 4,000 jobs, 3,000 of which would come from the company's beleaguered mobile devices division. The company has said that it shipped 19 million handsets in the quarter, down sequentially from the 25.4 million it shipped in the third quarter and less than half of the 40.9 million it shipped in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Motorola has been in a period of uncertainty since it posted a $397 million loss in the third quarter and its handset division saw a 31 percent drop in revenue. In December, Motorola said it would freeze U.S. pension plans, stop matching company 401(k) contributions, halt most salary increases for 2009 and cut executive pay.

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