TDK China to cut 15,000 jobs amid rising costs

Shanghai, June 20 (Gasgoo.com) The TDK Corporation, Japan's largest maker of disk-drive components, said it would cut 15,000 jobs in its China operations before next March to combat the impact of rising costs of raw materials, the nytimes reports Thursday.

The cuts are in response to rising salary of workforces in emerging markets brought on by a rapid increase in raw material prices. The average salary in Chinese cities rose by 18.7% for the full year of 2007, with basic salary of white-collar workers in Shanghai hit 34,320 yuan ($4,990) for year average.

By adding more automatic facilities to these plants TDK says it will be able to keep the current production capacity with less number of people.

TDK has been a leading electronic materials and components producer since 1935. Its automobile products cover some 200 categories including DVDs, car navigations and other auto parts. Since its entry in the Chinese market in the 1980s, TDK has established four manufacturing plants, five sales locations and several related companies in China.