Toshiba to Double Staff at Its Irvine Plant

As part of its ongoing expansion, Toshiba America Information Systems said Wednesday that it will hire 200 more people and boost production of laptop computers at its plant here starting Dec. 1.

The expansion will double the number of manufacturing jobs at the company’s Irvine plant to 400. Production of laptops will increase from 15,000 units a month to 25,000.

At the same time, the company said, it will also increase production of printed circuit boards, which are used in computers and other electronics products, in Irvine from 5,000 a month to 10,000 by April, 1991.

The expansion will require a $6.5-million investment in the manufacturing plant in the Irvine Spectrum business park, where the company opened the $9-million printed circuit board manufacturing plant in May.

The expansion is part of Toshiba America’s long-range goal to manufacture in the United States all of the products the company sells in the United States, said Kiichi Hataya, president of the unit, which is a subsidiary of electronics giant Toshiba Corp. of Tokyo.

Toshiba America said earlier this year that, based on high demand for laptop computers, it expects to employ about 3,000 people nationwide by March, 1992.