December 5, 1996 7:00 PM ET

AMD to lay off 250 employees in cost-cutting move
By Margaret Kane

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. plans to lay off 250 employees in a move officials said would reduce costs and "align skill sets with anticipated future needs." The Sunnyvale, Calif., chip manufacturer, which employs 12,400 people worldwide, expects to take a charge of up to $8 million in the fourth quarter for severance issues. The company, which has lost money the past two quarters, does not expect to make it back into the black this quarter either, said spokesman Scott Allen. "We want to return to profitability as early in 1997 as we can," Allen said. "Currently, AMD is staffed to be a $3 billion-a-year company, and we're going to do roughly two-thirds of that in 1996. We can't be profitable consistently at current head-count and sales levels." In September, AMD laid off 200 people. The new job cuts will affect workers at the company's headquarters and at a manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas. Copyright(c) 1996 Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company is prohibited. PC Week and the PC Week logo are trademarks of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. PC Week Online and the PC Week Online logo are trademarks of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. Send mail to PC Week