It is not the end of the world for the country’s multibillion-dollar electronics industry in the Philippines. They have seen downturns in the past and they survived.
These were the fighting words Friday of Ernie Santiago, president of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. (SEIPI) as the global financial meltdown started taking its toll in the country’s top dollar-earning industry.
Last year was already bad as the industry growth retreated to negative five percent. As the global recession deepens, the industry expects to plunge even to lower levels this year, Santiago admitted. It will only be the fourth year that the industry suffered declines since the 1970s when it started.
There is bound to be casualties, he said, but the organization still does not have the numbers.
One of the big players, Intel, announced the other day it is closing its chip-making operations in Cavite and two other plants in Malaysia. Two thousand workers in its Cavite plant lost their jobs. Texas Instruments based in Baguio earlier retired close to 400 workers and redeployed another 100 to its Clark facility.
To avoid too many job losses, the industry players have adopted several measures to keep their noses above water, Santiago told PhilExport News and Features in an exclusive interview.
Most SEIPI members have adopted four-day workweeks instead of the usual six working days as part of their cost-cutting strategy, Santiago said.
They have likewise taken extra efforts to stay profitable so they can ride through the crisis.
“There is really nothing wrong with the industry,” Santiago pointed out. “The demand is there but for lack of access to credit, buyers are canceling their orders. The crisis, he said, is affecting all businesses, not only electronics. Philexport News and Features
These were the fighting words Friday of Ernie Santiago, president of the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. (SEIPI) as the global financial meltdown started taking its toll in the country’s top dollar-earning industry.
Last year was already bad as the industry growth retreated to negative five percent. As the global recession deepens, the industry expects to plunge even to lower levels this year, Santiago admitted. It will only be the fourth year that the industry suffered declines since the 1970s when it started.
There is bound to be casualties, he said, but the organization still does not have the numbers.
One of the big players, Intel, announced the other day it is closing its chip-making operations in Cavite and two other plants in Malaysia. Two thousand workers in its Cavite plant lost their jobs. Texas Instruments based in Baguio earlier retired close to 400 workers and redeployed another 100 to its Clark facility.
To avoid too many job losses, the industry players have adopted several measures to keep their noses above water, Santiago told PhilExport News and Features in an exclusive interview.
Most SEIPI members have adopted four-day workweeks instead of the usual six working days as part of their cost-cutting strategy, Santiago said.
They have likewise taken extra efforts to stay profitable so they can ride through the crisis.
“There is really nothing wrong with the industry,” Santiago pointed out. “The demand is there but for lack of access to credit, buyers are canceling their orders. The crisis, he said, is affecting all businesses, not only electronics. Philexport News and Features
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