Saying that the company was reducing costs to brace itself for a huge economic loss because of the economic downturn, Panasonic's recent announcement - of its plan to layoff 15,000 employees and shut down 27 of its plants worldwide - has invoked anxiety among workers and government alike.

With the company saying that half of the job cuts and plant closures will be in Japan, and the remaining half overseas, the Panasonic workers in south Wales apparently face tentative prospects.

The company's plant in Port Talbot was closed a year-and-half back. Panasonic's Cardiff-based largest plant - which is the European research and development centre, and makes electronic products - has 640 employees, and the Newport plant, manufacturing telephone switchboards employees 400 workers.

Calling the news of the cuts "worrying," Jenny Willott, Cardiff Central MP, said that the electronic products' sector is a "vulnerable" one amid the ongoing recession. About the proposed cuts, she said: "It's worrying for the people who have built up a range of skills over the years."

The Japanese government too has repeated its request to the business leaders to carefully consider their decision of massive job-cuts.

Expressing anxiety over the news of such cuts, government spokesman and Chief Cabinet Secretary, Takeo Kawamura, said: "We hope labor adjustment will be done in a cautious manner from the viewpoint that jobs support the economy." (Rupinder contributed to this report)