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Fab closures to lead to job losses at Fairchild Semiconductor
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Continued cost-cutting at Fairchild Semiconductor, which saw 1,100 jobs go (12% of the workforce announced
in December 2008), will now lead to a further 200 jobs being cut and
the closure of two fabs in Mountain Top, PA and Bucheon, South Korea.
The fab consolidation process is expected to be completed by June 2010.
"Sizing our manufacturing footprint and keeping our cost structure competitive are requirements for the long term health of our company and drive this production consolidation,” said Mark Thompson, President, Chairman and CEO. “These actions reduce the number of wafer fabs in the company from six to four, and the number of front end manufacturing sites from four to three. We are committed to staying cost competitive in these hard economic times, and these changes will simplify operations, improve productivity and reduce costs.”
Annual savings ranging from US$20 to US$25 million are expected as a result of these closures. Fairchild will have three front-end fabs remaining. Fairchild Semiconductor claims on its website that the Mountain Top fab was the semiconductor industry's ‘only 8-inch Discrete Power’ facility.