Hard disk manufacturer Seagate announced that they will shut down their plant in Suzhou and cut over 2,000 employees.

The Suzhou plant already posted a dissolution notice, stating that due to "continuous operating efficiency optimization", they have to make the decision to dissolve the plant ahead of schedule. According to the notice, Seagate will pay compensation according to China's Labor Contract Law. Staff turnover procedures will be handled between January 11 and January 18, 2017.

Seagate said that dissolving the Suzhou plant ahead of schedule is one of Seagate's measures to continue to reduce global manufacturing scale to better adapt to the current and future market demand.

Kelly Zhang, a spokesperson from Seagate, told local media that the employee layoff is a part of Seagate's global restructuring plan, which was announced in July 2016.

In July 2016, Seagate announced that the company would cut about 6,500 employees before the end of its 2017 financial year, accounting for about 14% of its total employees around the world.

Seagate's hard disk products are mainly used on PCs. And due to the depressed demands of PC makers, Seagate's business has suffered.