Solectron Corp., the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, plans to lay off 8,200 employees, or more than 10 percent of its global workforce, the company said. The San Francisco-based firm blamed a weakening economy and said it would miss this year's sales target. Solectron, a key supplier to Sony, said it would likely shift manufacturing toward lower-cost and "logistically superior" areas.
Creative Technology Ltd., a leader in DVD products and MP3 players and parent of the Cambridge Soundworks retail electronics chain, will close a suburban Philadelphia plant, lay off 550 employees, and take other steps "to aggressively cut costs," a spokeswoman said. The company blamed the "severity of the economic climate" for the job cuts - 10 percent of its global workforce. Creative Technology's headquarters are in Singapore.
(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Monitor
