Asia Tech Wire (Oct 16) -- HP's Taiwan branch will conduct two waves of layoffs starting in October, according to the Economic Daily News.

The layoffs will affect about 20 to 30 people, including top executives in the R&D department and vice presidents.

Although the number of layoffs did not reach a hundred, the layoffs have attracted huge attention.

HP's manpower adjustments in the past have mostly focused on the sales department, while this rare move involves the R&D department and top executives.

The PC maker currently employs about 1,000 people in Taiwan.