350 jobs lost as Acer makes cuts

Acer Inc (宏電) surprised more than 350 employees as they arrived to work yesterday by handing them pink slips.

The firings are part of the personal computer maker's corporate restructuring plan, a company spokesperson said.

"We have begun the company's restructuring and cutting the workforce is just one part of the plan," said Acer's spokesman, Henry Wang (汪島雄).

The move by Acer, Taiwan's third-largest personal computer maker by market capitalization, axes more than 350 local employees from its personal computer assembly plants in Hsinchu and Hsichih.

The firings follow last week's layoff of more than 500 foreign workers, most of them from the Philippines.

But this time the dismissals included Taiwanese, and not just production line workers, but research and development engineers, salespeople, quality control personnel and even some managers.

The move is expected to save Acer as much as NT$700 million (US$22 million) annually.

Due to reduced demand for its products amid a weakening global economy, Acer shut down several of its overseas production lines last year and began streamlining part of its domestic operations.

The company's monthly revenues have continued to fall in recent months, plunging 37.43 percent on year to NT$5.046 billion (US$154.6 million) in January, the lowest level in three and a half years.

"In light of the worldwide economic situation and with information technology industry profits continuing to decline, other large international corporations are also taking similar cost-cutting measures," Acer said yesterday.

According to Wang, the company has laid off some 2,400 foreign and domestic workers worldwide since last year, or 18 percent of its total staff.

Acer currently employs 5,400 people in Taiwan. It is the first company in the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park (新竹科學園區) to have made massive layoffs this year.