<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Jan 31, 2009
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Chartered to cut 500 jobs <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>A last-resort measure after drastic fall in plant utilisation, says company </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Chua Hian Hou
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->GIANT chipmaker Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing - already bracing itself for one of its biggest-ever quarterly losses - is laying off 500 employees here.
The layoffs will affect all levels, 'from manufacturing to managerial to executive', said chief executive Chia Song Hwee yesterday.
Affected staff will be told by next week.
Those who have been with the company for three or more years will get one month's pay for every year of service, while those with less time there will get two weeks' pay for every year at Chartered.
The company, which has six plants here, will also give an ex-gratia payment to retrenched employees and has engaged consultants to help them find new jobs. Mr Chia did not rule out further layoffs.
The retrenchments will cost Chartered US$8 million (S$12 million) but will help it save US$16 million over the year.
This round of layoffs brings the total job cuts at Chartered to 1,300 since last August, or 18 per cent of its previous workforce of about 7,200.
An engineer at Chartered's Woodlands plant, who did not want to be named, was not surprised when told the news.
'Business has been very bad. Everybody knew it was only a matter of time,' he said. 'My only worry is that with the whole semiconductor industry in trouble, I doubt I'll be able to find a similar job.'
Since August, Chartered has cut about 270 contract positions, let go of poor performers, implemented pay cuts and frozen hiring. It also did not replace those who resigned, said Mr Chia.
He told The Straits Times that yesterday's step was a last resort as utilisation of its plants had fallen to 59 per cent for the quarter ended Dec 31. It is expected to slide further to just 37 per cent in this quarter, which is shaping up to be the firm's worst.
It has forecast that it will suffer a quarterly loss of US$147 million for the first three months of this year.
The Government announced in last week's Budget that it will subsidise part of a worker's wage bill through the Jobs Credit scheme, but that was not enough to avoid the job cuts, Mr Chia said.
'Unfortunately business conditions continue to deteriorate, and with utilisation below 40 per cent, despite the Jobs Credit scheme, resizing is unavoidable,' he said.
Yesterday, the United Workers of Electronic and Electrical Industries said that Chartered had informed it early last month of the layoffs, giving the union enough time to plan how to help affected staff. It added that it will work with the company to send more workers for training.
Chartered, the world's third-largest maker of customised chips, announced the dismal profits outlook and job cuts yesterday morning before the markets opened.
It also filed its financial results for its fourth quarter ending Dec 31.
It posted a net loss of US$92.6 million for the full year on revenues of US$1.66 billion. It had a US$101.7 million profit in 2007.
The financial turmoil had caused an 'unprecedented rate of decline in semiconductor demand worldwide', said chief financial officer George Thomas in a statement.
Two weeks ago, the labour movement estimated that 2,000 workers in the electronics manufacturing sector would lose their jobs by March. In comparison, 2,374 electronics sector jobs were lost last year. [email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Chartered to cut 500 jobs <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>A last-resort measure after drastic fall in plant utilisation, says company </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Chua Hian Hou
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->GIANT chipmaker Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing - already bracing itself for one of its biggest-ever quarterly losses - is laying off 500 employees here.
The layoffs will affect all levels, 'from manufacturing to managerial to executive', said chief executive Chia Song Hwee yesterday.
Affected staff will be told by next week.
Those who have been with the company for three or more years will get one month's pay for every year of service, while those with less time there will get two weeks' pay for every year at Chartered.
The company, which has six plants here, will also give an ex-gratia payment to retrenched employees and has engaged consultants to help them find new jobs. Mr Chia did not rule out further layoffs.
The retrenchments will cost Chartered US$8 million (S$12 million) but will help it save US$16 million over the year.
This round of layoffs brings the total job cuts at Chartered to 1,300 since last August, or 18 per cent of its previous workforce of about 7,200.
An engineer at Chartered's Woodlands plant, who did not want to be named, was not surprised when told the news.
'Business has been very bad. Everybody knew it was only a matter of time,' he said. 'My only worry is that with the whole semiconductor industry in trouble, I doubt I'll be able to find a similar job.'
Since August, Chartered has cut about 270 contract positions, let go of poor performers, implemented pay cuts and frozen hiring. It also did not replace those who resigned, said Mr Chia.
He told The Straits Times that yesterday's step was a last resort as utilisation of its plants had fallen to 59 per cent for the quarter ended Dec 31. It is expected to slide further to just 37 per cent in this quarter, which is shaping up to be the firm's worst.
It has forecast that it will suffer a quarterly loss of US$147 million for the first three months of this year.
The Government announced in last week's Budget that it will subsidise part of a worker's wage bill through the Jobs Credit scheme, but that was not enough to avoid the job cuts, Mr Chia said.
'Unfortunately business conditions continue to deteriorate, and with utilisation below 40 per cent, despite the Jobs Credit scheme, resizing is unavoidable,' he said.
Yesterday, the United Workers of Electronic and Electrical Industries said that Chartered had informed it early last month of the layoffs, giving the union enough time to plan how to help affected staff. It added that it will work with the company to send more workers for training.
Chartered, the world's third-largest maker of customised chips, announced the dismal profits outlook and job cuts yesterday morning before the markets opened.
It also filed its financial results for its fourth quarter ending Dec 31.
It posted a net loss of US$92.6 million for the full year on revenues of US$1.66 billion. It had a US$101.7 million profit in 2007.
The financial turmoil had caused an 'unprecedented rate of decline in semiconductor demand worldwide', said chief financial officer George Thomas in a statement.
Two weeks ago, the labour movement estimated that 2,000 workers in the electronics manufacturing sector would lose their jobs by March. In comparison, 2,374 electronics sector jobs were lost last year. [email protected]
