Taiwan's "Silicon Valley," has felt the pinch of the global IT slump with at least 5,000 workers laid off in the first half of this year.
At least 2,800 domestic employees at the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park in northern Taiwan lost their jobs this year - the highest since the park was inaugurated 20 years ago, according to the State industrial park administration.
Another 2,200 foreign workers were made laid off as multinational companies looked to cuts costs and local companies moved their operations to mainland China.
There are currently 102,000 employees in the industrial park, which houses hundreds of high-tech companies from computer and peripherals, to semiconductors, fire-optics and bio-technology.
China churned out US$25.5 billion worth of information technology products last year, 72 per cent of which contributed by Taiwan investors.
Taiwan's jobless rate in May hit an all-time high of 4.22 per cent, up from 3.96 percent in April and 2.78 per cent year-on-year, official figures showed.
Taiwan's central bank has revised its forecast of the island's economic growth this year to four per cent from 5.18 per cent.
AFP