Wednesday June 20, 2007

Asahi Singapore to close, 400 jobs lost

channelnewsasia.com :

Some 400 workers in Singapore will lose their jobs when Asahi Techno Vision (ATV) will shut down its production base here by the end of this month. This is because of declining demand for the company's main product - television glass panels - which have been made obsolete by newer technologies such as liquid crystal displays (LCD) used in the latest flat panel television sets, said ATV.

Morale was especially low among the elderly workers, who felt companies would be less keen to hire them. "The majority of us have been working here for the last 18 years. For some of us, this was our first job," said a worker. In its heyday, ATV employed over 1,000 workers in Singapore, where it was established in 1985. As one of the world's largest producers of glass panels, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Asahi Glass of Japan boasted of key customers such as Hitachi and Sony.

Asahi's move reflects a structural readjustment of the local manufacturing industry, which has lost out to lower-cost manufacturing centres around the region. Electronics giants such as Maxtor have made headlines with their massive withdrawals from the Republic. Singapore is therefore changing tack, offering higher-end services in the manufacturing value chain.

See also :

1. Maxtor saga (chops 5500, sells plant, bought by Seagate, cuts 6000 jobs, becomes Philips LED plant)
2. Toshiba quits Singapore without fanfare
3. National Semiconductor to sell Singapore assembly and test plant

(2007-06-20 12:25:30 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

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