Philips to cut 400 jobs in Laguna semicon plant

NXP Semiconductors, a privately held chip maker started by Royal Philips Electronics NV on Thursday evening said it will lay-off about 400 workers in its Cabuyao, Philippines plant as part of a restructuring plan for its manufacturing operations in the country. Under the plan, the company will discontinue power amplifier and front-end module production in its Cabuyao facility, and transfer about 200 employees to NXP's Calamba, Philippines facility. Apart from the 400 full-time workers who will lose their jobs, some contractual positions will also be affected by the plan. Approximately 5,700 people work for NXP in the Philippines, 3,050 of whom are stationed in Cabuyao. The employees who will be laid off belong to NXP's power amplifier and front-end-module production division, which the firm said it will now dissolve. On the other hand, the 200 employees who will be transferred from Cabuyao to Calamba are part of the firm's system-in-package solutions division. "We are transferring as many employees from the SiPs operation in Cabuyao to Calamba as possible, and replacing contractors with full-time employees. In cases where this is not possible, we will offer a social plan to those employees affected by the move," NXP chief manufacturing officer Ajit Manocha said in a statement. "Continuity for customers is assured. We are confident these measures will ensure the competitiveness and long-term viability of our operations in the Philippines," Manocha added. Separately, the company said it will close a plant in Boeblingen, Germany by the end of 2007. About 550 employees will be affected by the closure. The majority of the production load will be transferred to NXP factories in Nijmengen and Hamburg. NXP said the decision to close the German facility was a result of its withdrawal from two underperforming businesses.-GMANews.TV