Thomson lays off workers

Thomson lays off workers

SINGAPORE (AFP): France's Thomson Consumer Electronics said it
was laying off 900 employees from a Singapore plant manufacturing
televisions.

Thomson said in a statement that it was redistributing the TV
manufacturing operations to another local plant and to facilities
in Bangkok and Indonesia's Batam island.

"Seven hundred will be retrenched in a month's time. The
others will be laid off in phases," a company spokesman told AFP.

Thomson said that it would continue using Singapore as the
company's regional headquarters to provide key support services
for facilities elsewhere in Asia.

Didier Trutt, Thomson general manager for TV manufacturing in
Asia, said it made "good economic sense" to expand the company's
manufacturing operations in Indonesia and Thailand while using
Singapore as a regional base.