News In Brief

Solectron Corp., the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, plans to lay off 8,200 employees, or more than 10 percent of its global workforce, the company said. The San Francisco-based firm blamed a weakening economy and said it would miss this year's sales target. Solectron, a key supplier to Sony, said it would likely shift manufacturing toward lower-cost and "logistically superior" areas.

Creative Technology Ltd., a leader in DVD products and MP3 players and parent of the Cambridge Soundworks retail electronics chain, will close a suburban Philadelphia plant, lay off 550 employees, and take other steps "to aggressively cut costs," a spokeswoman said. The company blamed the "severity of the economic climate" for the job cuts - 10 percent of its global workforce. Creative Technology's headquarters are in Singapore.

(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Monitor