Agilent and General Motors

Date: Tuesday, February 25, 2003 11:02 AM

H-1B and JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

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Agilent announces that they will increase production in Asia from 20%
to 40%. In the process they will eliminate about 4,000 jobs in order
"to shift to lower cost regions."

General Motors is to Invest $60 Million in an India Tech Center that
will employ about 260 engineers.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63519-2003Feb25.html

Agilent Seeks to Strengthen Asia Revenues

Reuters
Tuesday, February 25, 2003; 3:43 AM

By Katherine Espina

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. electronics and testing equipment maker
Agilent Technologies Inc. said on Tuesday it was looking for more
business in Asia as it boosts its manufacturing operations in the
region and increases outsourcing.

More than 30 percent of Agilent's orders and revenue now come from
Asia, its strongest growth area, Chairman Edward Barnholt told a press
briefing on the opening of the group's $92 million facility in
Singapore.

"That's probably going to increase going forward because Asia is
continuing to grow while other parts of the world are flat or
declining," Barnholt added, citing growth in China.

"Not only are we getting more business from Asia, we are also
delivering, shipping more products out of Asia and most of that is
coming from Singapore and Malaysia," he said.

Agilent, a leading manufacturer of scientific instruments and analysis
equipment, reported on Friday a wider-than-expected fiscal first
quarter net loss of $369 million compared with a loss of $315 a
year-earlier. Revenue fell to $1.41 billion for its first quarter
ending January 31 from $1.43 billion.

"In the past, 20 percent of our revenues worldwide were shipped from
Asia," said Barnholt. We are continuing to increase that percentage to
where it is now at over 30 percent."

He said shipments from Asia will hit 40 percent in the next one to two
years.

"The net effect is that we will end up with 40 percent of our worldwide
shipments coming from Asia compared to three years ago when it was 20
to 30 percent.

"It's a conscious strategy on our part to shift to lower cost regions."

Barnholt said details of 4,000 job cuts announced on Friday would be
finalized in the next two to three weeks. He said 70 percent would come
from the United States and the remaining 30 percent mostly from Europe.
The cuts amount to 11 percent of its employees.

MORE OUTSOURCING

Agilent said that as it has moved more of its manufacturing operations
to Asia, it has also tapped local sub-contractors in the process.

Barnholt said almost all the company's printed circuit boards are
outsourced, up from 40 percent three years ago.

Tan Bian Ee, president of Agilent Singapore/Malaysia, said the company
plans to increase outsourcing of its semiconductor components business
to between 60 percent and 70 percent from the current 50 percent.

Singapore's largest contract manufacturer, Venture Corp, makes printed
circuit boards for Agilent.

Barnholt reiterated that the company hopes to break even by its fiscal
fourth quarter although the company's forecast does not anticipate a
significant impact from any war against Iraq.

"With the potential of a war, there's already a lot of uncertainty from
our customers. We already see our customers holding back on their
purchases, on their capex. "

"If there is a war and it's short, there will be minimal impact on our
business but if it lasts longer than several weeks to a month, then it
will have a material impact."

) 2003 Reuters

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030225/tc_nm/gm_india_dc

GM to Invest $60 Million in India Tech Center
Tue Feb 25, 8:43 AM ET Add Technology - Reuters to My Yahoo!

By Narayanan Madhavan

BANGALORE, India (Reuters) - General Motors Corp (GM.N) said on Tuesday
it would invest $60 million over three years in an Indian technology
center which would aid round-the-clock global engineering and research
to make futuristic vehicles.

Officials of the world's biggest car maker said the center, with 260
engineers to be hired over the next 18 months, will start work in June
and collaborate with U.S. and European centers of the company over
high-speed communication links from Bangalore.

John Cohoon, executive director for global research, told a news
conference that India's pool of talented engineers will help GM meet a
skills shortage and also give a cost advantage.

With a time-zone difference between European and U.S. centers that form
part of about 15 engineering centers that directly employ about 20,000
people worldwide, the Indian center would boost productivity and speed
up vehicle research, he said.

"This will establish for GM 24-hour-a-day engineering capabilities,"
Cohoon said.

Global engineering groups like ABB (ABBZn.VX) and General Electric Co
(GE.N) already have facilities in Bangalore as part of a new wave of
manufacturing research after the city emerged as a software hub for
high-tech companies.

With microchips among automobile components, the software that goes
into them is also becoming a key factor.

B.G. Prakash, plucked out by GM from India's state-run Aeronautical
Development Agency to become the director of its science laboratory,
said the India center would conduct research to aid the use of
lightweight materials like aluminum and help develop "software
intensive vehicles."

Computer-aided design and manufacturing from Bangalore will increase
productivity for GM, Cohoon said. While regional R&D centers in South
Korea and Australia serve local manufacturing, the Indian facility will
help global work, he added.

Separately, GM is also working with Indian software service giants like
Wipro (WIT.N) (WIPR.BO) and HCL Technologies (HCLT.BO) which execute
projects that aid GM's research.

GM is also active as a car maker in the Indian market, which is
forecast to be one of the world's fastest growing this decade.

The managing director of GM's Indian unit, Aditya Vij, said it would
complete by the first quarter of next year a 13.8 billion rupee ($289
million) investment in its manufacturing facility in the western state
of Gujarat.

Some 7.8 billion of this is already in place.

Vij said GM, which already has its Opel Astra, Corsa, Swing and Vectra
models in the local market, planned to launch at least three more
products this year.

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