It seems like the rumors about Foxconn are much worse in reality, as now the company chairman Terry Gou has gone on record and said that the economic crisis is three times worse than expected and Foxconn is going to have to lay off further staff to reduce costs.

Foxconn has already made 1,500 people redundant in Hungary, alongside tens of thousands of people in China, with 10 to 15 percent of its workforce in Taiwan expected to get laid off shortly, as well. It really doesn't look good for Foxconn at the moment and there might be more redundancies in the future if things don't improve.

With an overall lower demand for IT-related goods, it's the manufacturers that are the first to suffer and Foxconn is one of the world's largest manufacturers of just about anything IT or consumer electronics related. The timing of these major layoffs couldn't be worse, as this is supposed to be a happy season of the year with Christmas and Chinese New Year just around the corner, but it looks like many people will be getting a pink slip this year rather than the customary red envelope in China.

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