US telecom major Motorola Inc has shut down its semiconductor design units in Singapore and Taiwan as it moves work to China and India, where engineers are abundant and wages are lower, Chicago Tribune and Sun Herald reported.

Motorola fired about 50 chip-design workers last week in Singapore, Taiwan and at a facility that will stay open in Hong Kong, spokeswoman Gloria Shiu said in Beijing.

Outsourcing and India: Complete Coverage

Schaumburg-based Motorola, which is planning to spin off its semiconductor unit by the year's end, will divide the work among operations in China, India and Australia.

In another development the state of North Carolina is planning to bring food stamping jobs back from India, even as states are planning several legislative measures to curb the shifting of white collar jobs out of the US.

North Carolina officials will ask the Legislature for money to locate a state food stamp call centre in Martin County after learning a contractor operated it in India, Wilimington Star News reported.

The food stamp system is a way of subsidising food purchases by the poor.

Dan Gerlach, adviser to Governor Mike Easley, said on Tuesday that the Governor had been unaware that the centre had been outsourced to India until the media reported it.

In North Carolina, the Republicans, who normally favour outsourcing, had criticised the move, saying the jobs should be performed by North Carolina residents.