Motorola sheds 800 jobs as it prepares to complete its acquisition by Google

The new Motorola Droid Razr smartphone

Motorola Mobility, the handset maker in the process of becoming an integral part of Google in the stunning $12.5 billion takeover bid, will shed eight hundred jobs. The restructuring conveniently takes place ahead of the Google acquisition, reports Bloomberg. The move was approved October 24, as revealed in the company’s regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Job cuts will incur $31 million in related costs – to be recorded this quarter – and include $27 million severance pay and additional four million dollars in costs associated with facilities closures. The company’s spokeswoman Jennifer Weyrauch-Erickson said:

Motorola Mobility continues to focus on improving its financial performance by taking actions to manage the company’s costs.

The company last week reported $32 million in the September quarter losses, on sales of $3.3 billion stemming from quarterly shipments of 100,000 Xoom tablets and 4.8 million smartphones. The company doubled down on Android. Earlier this month they released the Droid Razr high-end Android device and last week said they planned to update their Android devices to Ice Cream Sandwich six week’s following the official release to OEMs.

When the proposed Google acquisition gets greenlighted by U.S. regulators, Motorola will become the search giant’s in-house smartphone design shop, allowing for fully integrated experiences as both the Android software and services and Motorola-designed hardware get developed and integrated under the same roof.