GlobalFoundries seeks to shed employees via voluntary buyout program

Semiconductor foundry GlobalFoundries is seeking to reduce its workforce as the company has seen shrinking revenue throughout this year. The company will not fire employees but has launched a voluntary buyout offer for US employees, with the goal of reducing staff at its Fab 8 plant in Malta, NY and the newly acquired factories in Dutchess County, NY and Vermont.

Exacts specifics of how much the company is offering employees to leave are unknown, nor are there any details about how many jobs GlobalFoundries is targeting - but it's believed the foundry is hoping the buyout package will entice many former IBM employees to leave.

GlobalFoundries' workforce count increased by about 5,000 earlier this year as the company took over IBM's semiconductor manufacturing business. Some of these employees replicate positions that already exist at GlobalFoundries, and according to the rumor mill the foundry hopes many former IBM workers, especially those close to retirement, will take the voluntary package.

The buyouts are needed because of shrinking revenues throughout the industry this year, said GlobalFoundries spokesman Jason Gorss.

"Over the past nine months, the economic outlook for revenue in the (chip foundry) industry has degraded by nearly 11 full percentage points, and we need to manage our business in light of the new economic reality," Gorss told the Times Union. "In an effort to react to what is happening in our industry, we are offering our U.S.-based employees a voluntary separation program that will allow us to manage our costs while empowering employees to proactively manage their own employment situations. We have not set a specific target number. Each region, function, and organization has set goals to address the industry challenges ahead of us."

Source: Times Union