SINGAPORE (AP) -- Hard disk maker Seagate Technologies LLC. said Tuesday it plans to shut its Singapore factory by the end of next year to cut costs.
About 2,000 workers will be affected by the plant closure, with some offered jobs at other Seagate operations in Singapore while others will be given severance payments, the company said.
"This consolidation is necessary in order for Seagate to further increase efficiency and reduce costs" by having fewer manufacturing sites, the company said in a statement.
Seagate, headquartered in Scotts Valley, California, last month raised its fiscal first-quarter revenue projection after reporting a fiscal fourth-quarter loss due to restructuring and other charges. Revenue in the April-to-June period fell 19 percent to $2.35 billion.
Seagate said its Asian headquarters, media relations office and a product development and design center in Singapore aren't being closed. Singapore's unemployment rate rose to 3.3 percent in June from 2.5 percent in December, led by job losses in the manufacturing sector.
