Foxconn to 'lay off 600 people' in Slovakia

Taiwanese electronics company Foxconn will lay off 600 people in its Slovak plant where it makes LCD televisions for Sony due to low demand, Slovak business daily Hospodarske noviny reported on Monday. "The unfavourable situation in the LCD television sector in the global and European markets has had an impact on our strategic partner, which reflects on our production plans," the spokeswoman for Foxconn in Slovakia, Helena Windisch, told the daily. The spokeswoman was not available for a direct confirmation when her office was contacted by AFP Monday. Foxconn said a year ago it planned to boost output by 50 percent in 2011 and add 900 extra staff to the 3,000 employees it had at the beginning of last year. But slowing demand over 2011 has hit electronics production -- the second biggest driving force of Slovakia's economy behind auto manufacturing. In November, it fell by fell by 9.3 percent compared to the same month in 2010.