Rangoon (Mizzima) - Claiming at least 3000 jobs last week, many of Rangoon's factories have begun laying off a large number of workers, due to the effect of the current global financial meltdown, which has resulted in lower orders by overseas markets for businesses.

There are about 2500 factories, which work with about 120,000 workers, in Rangoon and most of them rely on foreign orders, which are crucial for their survival.

"More than two dozen garment and food processing factories in industrial zones across the commercial hub of Rangoon have closed down, because product orders have drastically declined since several weeks," a leading industrialist revealed.

The industrialist also said some more factories scrambled to save their businesses by reducing and sharing working hours among workers.

Roughly, the workers at the garment factory earn USD 30, per month.

"We no longer get such a monthly income, as working hours have been reduced," said a male worker in a garment factory, who is the breadwinner of a three-member family.

Meanwhile, the factories are continually facing a range of difficulties that threaten their operations, including fluctuating currency exchange rates, manufacturing cost increases, electricity shortages, and more recently, storm damages.