CHIP MAKER MICRON will cut about 15 per cent of its global work force as part of a restructuring of its computer memory chip operations.

Most of the cuts will take place in Boise, Idaho where Micron will shut down the NAND flash memory plant it operates as part of a joint venture with Intel.

A company statement cited declining customer demand and product oversupply as the reason for the cuts.

The selling price for NAND flash memory is below manufacturing costs. The job cuts will take place over the next two years, starting with a voluntary program. Micron officials say the company will provide severance and outplacement services.

Micron employs about 19,000 people worldwide. A reduction of 15 percent would mean 2,850 fewer employees.

Micron's president and chief operating officer Mark Durcan said that, "While this isn't good news for us or our employees or anyone in the community, we're doing what we have to do to remain competitive and protect the employees that are still here”.

The company has posted nearly $2 billion in losses since 2007, and more than 1,000 people have already been laid off in the last few years.

So much for the days when Durcan' said Boise would be the best place for Micron to build a plant capable of producing the next generation of memory chips because of a series of tax incentives available for the area. Still, he said that in March which is ancient history in the IT world.

He admitted that new fabrication plant in Boise was only "aspirational" and won't likely happen any time soon.

L'Inq
AP