SEOUL (AFP) — South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor Sunday unveiled new cost-cutting steps such as early retirement, unpaid leave and lower pay aimed at saving 100 billion won (68 million dollars) as the global downturn bites.
The move came after the world's second largest memory chipmaker asked for about 500 billion won (339 million dollars) in financial assistance from creditor banks.
Hynix said it would retire about 30 senior officials and cut remaining managers' pay by up to 20 percent.
Its union has also agreed on an early retirement programme targeting those who have worked for more than 10 years, and on two-week unpaid leave between January and April.
"We hope to save about 100 billion won through our new steps," a spokeswoman told AFP, adding the move would affect 18,000 workers in South Korea.
Knowledge Economy Minister Lee Youn-Ho has said that the government would not consider active state support for Hynix because this would breach World Trade Organisation guidelines.
Hynix is suffering from falling demand and chip prices amid a global economic downturn.
In the third quarter of this year, the company's net loss rose sharply to 1.65 trillion won, the fourth straight quarterly deficit.
Hynix shut down two older domestic production lines this year. It has also extended a payment deadline for a partner company's investment.
Numonyx, a joint-venture company run by Intel and STMicroelectronics NV, has agreed to invest 100 million dollars by December 31 for a 10 percent stake in Hynix's plant in China.
Numonyx paid 50 million dollars to Hynix in October.
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