Tokyo: Japan’s Fujifilm Holdings Corp. said Thursday it would lay off or redeploy 5,000 workers as part of its streamlining efforts to weather the global economic slump.

“We plan to reduce or transfer some 5,000 of our employees, mostly in other countries, by end of the business year to March 2011,” Fujifilm spokeswoman Maki Nogaito said. She declined to specify the number of actual job losses.

“This is part of our company’s structural reforms to cope with a change in the global business environment,” she said.

Fujifilm makes cameras and other photographic equipment and supplies. It also owns three quarters of photocopier manufacturer Fuji Xerox.

Like other Japanese high-tech companies, Fujifilm has been hit by the economic slump and expects a net loss of 60 billion yen ($615 million) in the business year to March 2010, hit by restructuring charges of 145 billion yen.

For the previous year to 31 March, Fujifilm’s net profit plummeted 89.9% to 10.5 billion yen as revenue fell 14.5%.

The company suffered due to the stronger yen, increased price competition and declining demand for colour film due to the continued shift towards digital photography. The recession also depressed digital camera sales.