Panasonic will shut its factory in Žatec, which makes LCD panels for flat televisions, by the end of the year and lay off all 615 of its workers there, a company spokesperson has announced. That will leave just 400 people working in the town’s Triangle industrial zone, which is owned by the Ústecký region, 85 km northwest of Prague. Panasonic has operated a 24 ha plant in the industrial zone since 2007.
The Ústecký region, which has the highest unemployment rate in the Czech Republic, originally hoped the Triangle zone would add 13,000 jobs to the local market. But while investment costs have amounted to CZK 2.5bn, with a further CZK 198m expected to go into the zone, the number of new jobs added in the area has been much lower than expected. Still, officials in the Ústecký region hope the zone will create 2,500 jobs there over the next few years, according to the economic server iHned. Panasonic said its LCD television production facility in Pilsen won’t be affected, and that it would buy screens for the sets from other suppliers. The electronics maker also announced plans to close its unit producing LCD screens for TVs in Malaysia, as it shifts its focus to small-format panels.
