| HOME | NEWS ALERTS | SMK RECOMMENDATIONS |


Applied Materials Cutting 2,000 Jobs
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (Reuters) - Applied Materials Inc. (NasdaqNM:AMAT - News), responding to the worst-ever slump in semiconductor equipment demand, said on Monday it would slash 14 percent of its work force, or 2,000 jobs, its second major round of layoffs in five months.

The company, the world's largest maker of microchip production tools, said it expected to record up to $425 million in pretax charges over the next four quarters.

The move comes on top of an 11 percent work force cut made in November.

Applied Materials said it expected the moves to reduce costs by about $60 million in the third quarter, and it targeted $100 million in savings by the first quarter of fiscal 2004 which ends in January.

About 1,400 jobs will be cut in North America, with the remainder elsewhere around the world. Buildings in Santa Clara, California, and Austin, Texas, will also be consolidated, the company said.

Some analysts had predicted that Applied Materials would be forced to cut staff to align its business with sharply reduced industry demand.

Shares of Applied Materials rose 76 cents, or 6.14 percent, to close at $13.13 on Nasdaq.