AMD Laying Off 15 Percent
California-based chip maker AMD has about 2,500 workers in Austin. Photo by flickr.com/photos/rutlo.Computer chipmaker AMD announced this afternoon that it’s laying off 15 percent of its workforce. The company is based in Silicon Valley but employs about 2,500 people at its southwest Austin campus.
The company says poor earnings and falling sales have forced cost-cutting measures. Analysts say AMD has suffered from an overall slowdown in computer sales as consumers have switched to tablets and smartphones — the same trend that has hurt Austin-based Dell. Hans Mosesmann is an investment analyst specializing in semiconductors. He says that while AMD is slimming down today to be smaller and more flexible, the company may soon be hiring again.
“There will likely be a replacement process to seek talent, not just in engineering but also in marketing that would allow them to address some of the new opportunities that they have going forward,” Mosesmann said.
Mosesmann says AMD’s new CEO, who took over about a year ago, has remade the company by replacing all of its senior executives.
