By DPA,
Bangkok : Thailand-based electronics manufacturers have hired thousands of staff as orders from abroad have resumed, news reports said Monday.
Western Digital – the world’s second largest manufacturer of hard-disk drives (HDD) – hired 3,000 additional workers last month for its Thai-based factories, bringing its total staff up to 31,000, the Bangkok Post reported.
The company had laid off about 3,000 workers since late last year in response to a steep drop in orders for HDDs from the US and other markets.
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, another Thai-based HDD manufacturer, hired 1,000 people in April.
“The global market has bottomed out and is on track to recover faster than our projection,” Electronics Computer Employers’ Association president Sampan Silapanad said.
About 30,000 Thai workers have lost their jobs in the electronics sector in the first quarter of 2009, when orders fell 40 percent. Thailand is the world’s largest HDD manufacturer.