Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson and electronics giant Toshiba announced total job cuts of nearly 6,000 in more signs that the world recession may be getting worse.
It also emerged that Cathay Pacific Airways, Asia's third-largest carrier, has asked its entire 17,000 staff to take unpaid leave.
Sony Ericsson, which has its headquarters in London, has already laid off 2,000 workers and said today it would slash another 2,000 jobs around the world. The latest cost-cutting drive comes as the company posted a €293m (£258m) net loss for the first three months of the year, and vowed to return to profitability "as quickly as possible".
Toshiba, which has suffered a huge drop in demand for its consumer electronics, said it would lay off 3,900 contract workers in Japan by March 2010. The losses come on top of 4,500 contract worker cuts announced in January.
It warned that its loss for the year that ended in March would be bigger than forecast. Toshiba now puts the loss at ¥350bn (£2.36bn), up sharply from the ¥280bn previously estimated and its biggest loss ever. It would also mark Toshiba's first annual net loss in seven years.
But offering a glimmer of hope, the company also said prices of flash memory chips were now stabilising, helping its performance at the operating level.
Cathay Pacific said today that all 17,000 employees at all levels of the company were being asked to take unpaid leave ranging from one to four weeks in the next 12 months.
The move comes a month after Hong Kong's flagship airline recorded its first annual loss since the Asian crisis in 1998.
Tony Tyler, the chief executive, said the company had "no option" but to take measures that will help maintain long-term sustainability.