CBNNews.com  - The Japanese electronics maker Panasonic is slashing 15,000 jobs as another sign of the global economic slowdown.

The company also plans to close 27 plants worldwide as it looks to cut costs and ride out the worldwide recession.

About half of their job cuts will be made in Japan by the end of March 2010, amounting to 5 percent of its workforce.

Plunging consumer demand and lower gadget prices have cost the manufacturer about $4 billion in the first quarter of this year.

Compay sales slid in a wide range of products including flat-panel TVs, DVD recorders, microwaves, lamps and semiconductors.

Other electronic manufacturers are also feeling the economic strain.

Sony is cutting 8,000 of its 185,000 jobs around the world. The electronics giant is closing five or six plants, about 10 percent of its 57 factories.

Hitachi Ltd., NEC Corp. and Toshiba Corp. are also all forecasting big losses for the fiscal year.