WD hiring 5,000 staff

US-based Western Digital (WD), the world's second-largest manufacturer of hard disk drives (HDD), is hiring 5,000 in Thailand as the global demand for data-storage products has risen beyond expectations.

Once the new recruitment is completed, the total headcount at WD (Thailand) would reach a record high of 36,000, compared with 33,000 before the electronics industry slumped last year, said Sampan Silapanad, vice-president of the Thai unit.

The majority of the new staff would work at WD's Bang Pa-in plant in Ayutthaya which has ramped up its production with overtime shifts to serve increasing demand from abroad.

"Orders in the past few months exceeded our expectation, so we have to run overtime shifts at the factories," said Mr Sampan. "At the same time, we want to fill the positions we cut earlier when the demand dipped."

WD, which ranks behind US rival Seagate Technology globally, last year cut its employment in Thailand to 29,000. It has also shut down permanently one of its two factories in Navanakorn Industrial Estate, Pathum Thani.

As demand has improved, Mr Sampan said WD (Thailand) had gradually expanded its employment locally in recent months to 31,000 at present.

"These workers are permanent staff. At WD, we don't have a policy to subcontract workers," he said.

The California-based parent, Western Digital Corp (WDC), was scheduled to report its financial results for its fourth fiscal quarter ended July 3 to the New York Stock Exchange late yesterday.

Mr Sampan, also the president of the Electronics & Computer Employers Association, said the prospects for HDD demand were promising over the next few months even though the longer-term outlook remained uncertain.

Home to WD, Seagate, and Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST), the world's third biggest HDD maker, Thailand shipped 500 billion baht worth of HDD last year, he said.

According to the Electrical and Electronics Institute, Thailand's exports of computer parts and components including HDDs totalled $5.43 billion from January to May this year, a decrease of 27% from the same period of 2008.

The US and Europe are the biggest export markets, accounting for 19% each of the total shipments from Thailand.

Overall, the country's exports of electronic goods and electrical appliances dropped year-on-year by 27% and 25% in the first five months to $9.09 billion and $5.62 billion respectively.

With HDD manufacturing projected to grow 3% in the latter half against a 7% decline in the first six months, the institute expects the export value of HDDs in the second half to exceed that of the same period in 2008.