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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (49809)	7/26/2001 10:55:53 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 70976

Infineon eliminating 5,000 jobs, cutting costs in response to downturn Semiconductor Business News (07/26/01 08:07 a.m. EST) MUNICH -- In an effort to cut losses, Infineon Technologies AG today announced it would eliminate 5,000 jobs, or about 17% of its worldwide workforce, has part of a series of actions aimed at lower costs by roughly 1 billion euros ($880 million) over the next 12 to 18 months. The cost-reduction program, called "Impact," will include other measures, such as shorten workweeks, streamlining logistics and procurement activities as well as manufacturing operations in various business units, said Infineon. The move comes after Infineon warned that losses would continue in the current fiscal quarter, following a 23% sequential decline in revenues and a net loss of 371 million euros ($323 million) in the period ending June 30 (see July 23 story). "Due to the fact that there are still no clear signs of a recovery in the global semiconductor market, we have informed our supervisory board on July 25 that additional, more extensive steps are now necessary on top of the cost-cutting program we already initiated," said Ulrich Schumacher, president and CEO of the Munich-based chip company. "Regrettably, a cost-saving program on this scale inevitably means reduction of the workforce worldwide. But the dramatic developments in the market and our business situation leave us no choice." Last month, Infineon announced an initial round of cost-cutting measures, including a reduction in capital spending by 500 million euros to 2.3 billion euros ($2.0 billion). Infineon also said it was cutting its fiscal 2002 investment plans, beginning Oct. 1, by more than 1 billion euros to 1.5 billion euros ($1.32 billion), and implementing "an almost complete hiring freeze." It's workforce will also be reduced through attrition, the company said. Infineon said there are currently no clear signs of a recovery in the marketplace, and demand is extremely weak in the mobile phone and PC markets. As a result of the "Impact" cost-reduction program, Infineon said it expects to be able to continue to investments in cutting-edge technologies and 300-mm wafer processing capacity.