Laird plc., a global supplier of EMI shielding devices and antennas, is in the process of cutting its staff by around 5000 or 54 percent. The company is closing its manufacturing facility in Hungary, which has 500 employees, and will close or downsize three of its facilities in the U.S. Production from these sites will be transferred to Mexico and China. These steps will lead to further labor and overhead reductions during the first half of 2009. The company has experienced a slowdown in demand across virtually all of its market sectors in November. For planning purposes, Laird’s management assumes that the current de-stocking lasts at least through the first quarter and that there will be no recovery during 2009. View the original announcement on the Laird website.
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