Rakon, which makes crystal oscillators used in smart phones and navigation systems, will cut up to 60 New Zealand jobs as it shifts more manufacturing to China and India in a bid to cut costs and widen profit margins.
The Auckland-based company expects to lay off up to 14 percent of its local workforce as it shifts crystal manufacturing capacity to Chengdu, China and expands capacity at its facility in India, it said in a statement. The plan is expected to improve margins by $10 million a year.
"Whilst it is very positive that Rakon is increasing market share in our target markets, we have to be realistic and accept it is not possible to sustain labour intensive elements of manufacturing in NZ for such globally competitive markets," chief executive Brent Robinson said.
"We will continue to manufacture temperature compensated crystal oscillators (TXCOs) in NZ using our automated and proprietary manufacturing processes along with other high-performance products," he said.
The job cuts come as government figures today are expected to show labour costs increased 0.5 percent in the September quarter and ahead of data on Thursday forecast to show 0.3 percent jobs growth in the same period. National carrier Air New Zealand today said it was laying off 70 cabin crew after ditching its London-Hong Kong route.