The computer memory chip maker Micron announced in late December it will reduce its workforce by 10% this year, but a company spokesperson could not confirm whether its Longmont employees will be impacted.
The layoffs were announced as the demand for memory chips drops. In addition to the staff reduction, executive salaries will be reduced through August and employee bonuses will be suspended, Micron said in a statement to the Leader.
“As a result of the weakened market outlook for calendar 2023, Micron is taking additional actions to protect the company’s balance sheet and sustain the health of our business,” the statement read, in part. “These actions include further cutting fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2024 capex versus prior plans, significantly reducing operating expenses through fiscal 2023, and suspending share buybacks.”
The layoffs will “vary by country and be conducted in accordance with local legal requirements and processes,” the statement read.
“Approximately half of the anticipated workforce reduction will come from not backfilling for normal voluntary attrition that occurs over the course of calendar 2023. The remainder will come from targeted business decisions, including, but not limited to, the elimination and/or scope reduction of certain projects and associated roles, and individual performance.”
The Idaho-based company’s plans to build a new semiconductor plant in upstate New York will not be impacted by the cutbacks, Micron said. The company is using federal CHIPS and Science Act tax credits for the expansion, which is expected to create nearly 50,000 New York jobs, Micron said in a news release Oct. 4.
“Micron intends to invest up to $100 billion over the next 20-plus years to construct a new megafab in Clay, New York, with the first phase investment of $20 billion planned by the end of this decade,” the release read. “This represents the largest private investment in New York state history.”
Micron also plans to build a new semiconductor plant in Idaho.
As the company faces an industry slowdown, most of its workforce reduction will occur before the end of February, the company said.
Under Colorado’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, employers are required to give workers 60-day notice before layoffs.
“A covered employer must give notice if there is to be a mass layoff which does not result from a plant closing, but which will result in an employment loss at the employment site during any 30-day period for 500 or more employees, or for 50-499 employees if they make up at least 33% of the employer’s active workforce,” the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment website reads.
The listings for layoffs are posted on the website, and Micron had no listings in 2022. As of Wednesday afternoon, the 2023 layoffs had not yet been posted.
Micron’s Longmont office, at 1900 Pike Road, employs more than 200 people. The company is also leasing part of a campus at 2452 Clover Basin Drive, which has been under construction. Micron said it plans to move its lab facilities to Clover Basin once complete, but retain its Pike Road location for the remainder of its lease, which runs through 2025.
