Chip manufacturer and ATI graphics card owner AMD -- the creator of the Xbox 360 and Wii GPUs -- has announced plans to cut 1,100 jobs (9 percent of its workforce) and lower the salaries of remaining staff, as a result of continued economic hardships.
Chip manufacturer AMD has announced plans to cut 1,100 jobs -– 9 percent of its global workforce -– and lower the salaries of remaining staff as a result of continued economic hardships. The company has also racked up considerable debts from its acquisition of chip maker ATi, which it now values at less than half its original price. AMD has already warned that fourth quarter results will be a third lower than a year ago. AMD’s acquisition of ATi means the company is now responsible for the graphics technology in both the Xbox 360 and the Wii, as well as various games related PC technologies such as the Radeon line of graphics cards. In the company’s third round of layoffs in a year, 900 employees will be made redundant outright, with the remaining 200 positions being cut as a result of natural attrition and the planned sale of a separate business unit. At the same time, surviving workers will see their salaries cut, with CEO Dirk Meyer and executive chairman Hector Ruiz cutting their own wages by 20 percent. Vice presidents and other top execs will have pay cuts of 15 percent, with salaried workers down by 10 percent and hourly workers by 5 percent. AMD is already in the midst of significant restructuring, with almost a fifth of the company having been sold to foreign investors, according to a report by the Associated Press.
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