"With rumors circulating around the market saying that Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) has laid off employees from its plants in China, company spokesman Edmund Ding has commented that the company has not yet issued any official layoff orders.

Various Foxconn departments are adjusting their operations to save costs, but the total number of employees is not showing any significant drop, Ding said. It would be reasonable to cut operations that have been underperforming on high costs, but such moves would only be conducted in line with the laws of the countries hosting the operations, he added.

Currently, Foxconn is focusing on reducing its idle assets, inventories and accounts receivable, and it is imposing tighter control on costs so as to get through the global financial crisis.

Foxconn's plants in China were recently rumored to have laid off over 10,000 employees, while a few hundred Taiwan managers were said to have returned to Taiwan from Foxconn's China operations."