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Semiconductor maker Micron cuts 480 jobs and suspends bonuses

By Nagasunder in US business news, posted December 22, 2022

The semiconductor maker Micron declared on Wednesday, December 21, that it would cut its headcount by about 10 percent in 2023. This is another example of the current economic slowdown affecting the technology industry.

Shares of Micron fell more than 1 percent after this announcement.

Idaho-based Micron has about 48,000 employees, based on a recent SEC filing.

The firm said it would hit its reduction target through voluntary departures as well as layoffs.

Micron also said it is suspending 2023 bonuses.

“On December 21, 2022, we announced a restructure plan in response to challenging industry conditions,” the company said in an SEC filing.

“Under the restructure plan, we expect to reduce our headcount by approximately 10 percent over the calendar year 2023, through a combination of voluntary attrition and personnel reductions.”

Micron said it projected a $30 million charge in the current quarter associated with the restructuring, which will also comprise less investment into manufacturing capacity and cost-cutting plans.

The move comes as Micron conveyed fiscal first-quarter 2023 results where it missed analyst approximations for earnings and revenue, and forecast a larger loss per share than expected in the current quarter.

Micron said it anticipated a loss of 62 cents per share on revenue of $3.8 billion in the current quarter.

Analysts had expected direction of a loss of 30 cents per share on $3.75 billion in sales.

Micron is best known for providing memory to computer manufacturers, but it is currently facing a situation where PC sales have slowed and server sales are expected to show very little growth in 2023.

In a statement Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said that there is too much memory supply and not sufficient demand.

This has caused the firm to keep more inventory and lose pricing power.

In the last several months, we have seen a dramatic drop in demand,” Mehrotra said, according to the prepared remarks.

He said he expects the company’s profitability to “remain challenged” through the end of 2023 but that the firm expects revenue and free cash flow to recover later in 2023.

In October, Intel announced that it would lay off workers as part of a plan to cut $10 billion in spending.

Nvidia publicized a hiring slowdown over the summer, and Qualcomm proclaimed its hiring freeze in November.

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It’s not only semiconductor firms adjusting after two pandemic-fueled years of growth and supply issues.

Tech companies together with Meta, Twitter, Snap, Stripe and Tesla have also cut staff as companies prepare for a potential recession and higher interest rates.

Source: CNBC

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