HTC Makes Huge Workforce Cuts Amid Another Bad Year

For quite some time now, HTC has been struggling when it comes to making money. Its quest for profitability has seen some big shake-ups, from laying off workers to even selling off a large portion of its smartphone design team to Google. Today we're learning that the layoffs aren't over just yet, as HTC is preparing to make some big cuts at its Taiwanese manufacturing division.

How big? Bloomberg Taipei's Samson Ellis says that the company is preparing to layoff 1,500 workers, representing 22% of its total employees. That, as you can imagine, isn't very good news for employees and it paints a rather grim picture for HTC as a whole.

HTC confirmed Ellis's report in a statement to Reuters. "Today HTC announces plan to optimize the manufacturing organizations in Taiwan," the company said. "This plan will allow more effective and flexible resource management going forward."

HTC also noted that these layoffs are part of its move to combine its smartphone and VR divisions, which was announced earlier in the year. For the moment, virtual reality seems to be the best thing HTC has going for it. Its VIVE headset is perhaps the most popular high-end headset around, though the recently-released VIVE Pro has come under criticism for its high price and the fact that it doesn't ship with any accessories.

It certainly seems like HTC is heading for a future where virtual reality is its main focus, but for now, it's still doing what it can with smartphones. The company recently launched the HTC U12+, but it's also working on a Blockchain phone concept codenamed Exodus that's still shrouded in mystery. We'll see if these layoffs help HTC return to profitability and where the company goes from here, so stay tuned.