South Korea"s Samsung Electronics, the world"s largest producer of memory chips, has shed more than 1,630 jobs this year (the first fall in its labour force for five years): from 86,899 eight months ago down 1.9% to 85,269 in September. The number of executives has also dropped from 836 to 821 this year. The cut is reportedly a prelude to a "full-scale corporate restructuring" at Samsung Electronics, which is suffering from falling memory chip and flat-panel prices, although company officials deny making preparations for a larger downsizing in the near future. "Some 500 to 800 staff quit here seasonally because high school graduates want to go to colleges. The 1,600 is more than usual but it has nothing to do with the corporate downsizing," said spokesman James Chung.