GM and Toyota Planning to Cut Jobs in Thailand to Reduce Production Cost

Global economic slump is now well-documented across the world. In fact, the ongoing credit crunch has already affected many a sectors in several countries. Many people lost their jobs, many business organizations shut down and different business have been badly affected. Amidst world wide economic recession, two giants of automotive industry, General Motors and Toyota, are now planning to production in Thailand due to drop in demand.

IHT reported:

GM Thailand said that its factory at Rayong, which has a capacity of 130,000 units a year, would close for two months starting in mid-December and that it planned to cut 258 jobs there.

"We plan to close the plant to help control costs, and our 2,000 workers will be paid 75 percent of their monthly salary during the shutdown," Chartchai Suwanasevok, the director of public relations, said, without giving details on the production impact.

Besides General Motors, Toyota is also planning to cut production costs in Thailand. 340 of 1,850 temporary workers at Toyota’s Gateway plant in Thailand might be imposed early retirement. Toyota is leading the auto market in Thailand. However, Toyota saw 21 percent drop in sales in October, compared with the same period of last year. Political instability also played a role behind the sales drop.