Micron may further lay off 5% of its workforce
Recently, there has been news of layoffs in the semiconductor industry one after another, and memory giant Micron is no exception. Previously, Micron also announced a number of measures such as layoffs, production reductions, executive salary reductions, reductions in operating costs, and capital expenditures, in response to declining consumer demand and continued weakness in the market. It is currently being implemented, but Micron’s situation seems to be more difficult than expected.
According to Boise State Public Radio, Micron is considering further layoffs, this time by about 5 percent of its workforce. Last year, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra announced that it will reduce the number of employees by about 10% in 2023 through a combination of voluntary layoffs and layoffs, as well as reducing external recruitment. Adding the 5% this time means that Micron’s layoff ratio has reached 10%. The number of Micron’s global employees is about 49,000, which means that about 7,500 people are affected. Micron’s layoffs will be carried out in stages within 2023 unless the market situation improves significantly and the demand for Micron’s products rebounds significantly.
In addition, Micron has to reduce capital expenditures, not only in 2023 but also in the next 2024. Although Micron is full of expectations for the construction of new factories, it has to face a series of problems. At present, Micron has reduced the production of DRAM and NAND flash memory by 20%, and at the same time slowed down the transition time of technology nodes, delaying the 1γ process node to 2025. Micron’s lingering on 232-layer 3D TLC NAND for longer than originally planned could cause Micron to lose the market to rivals like Samsung and SK Hynix, and be caught up by latecomers.
