Western Digital Lays Off 439 Workers in Singapore

Citing industry-wide troubles and a continued slump in business, hard disk-drive maker Western Digital Corp. cut 439 jobs Wednesday at one of its manufacturing plants in Singapore.

The workers, who made hard drives for desktop computers in the industrial suburb of Chai Chee, represent 9% to 10% of the company’s Singapore staff. The company’s other facilities in Malaysia and Singapore and its corporate offices in Irvine were not affected by the layoffs, said company spokesman Bob Blair.

The layoffs in the Chai Chee plant were caused by production cutbacks and decreased sales, Blair said.

Western Digital, one of the largest players in the disk-drive market, has suffered financially for more than seven months as its industry has been battered by oversupply and weak demand. No additional layoffs are expected, company officials said.