AMD to Restructure and Cut 5% of Workforce

By Don Clark 

Advanced Micro Devices Inc., reacting to a continued slump in its business, said it will cut its workforce by about 5% as part of a restructuring to trim costs at the chip maker.

The job cuts will affect slightly less than 500 employees, an AMD spokesman said. The company said it expects to record about $42 million in charges because of the moves and save about $58 million in expenses in 2016.

AMD, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., has long been known as the underdog maker of microprocessor chips to Intel Corp. It has also branched out into sales of graphics chips, a technology used to render images in videogames and other software.

The company has suffered due to recent declines in sales of personal computers, which use microprocessors, as well as market share losses to Intel. It reported a loss of $181 million in the second quarter, while revenue declined 36% to $942 million.

As part of the restructuring, AMD said it will take steps that include streamlining its computing and graphics chip sales efforts, creating regional presidents to oversee sales in Europe and China and outsourcing its internal technology support and application development.

The AMD spokesman said there is no change to the company's product-development plans.

Write to Don Clark at [e-mail]

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 01, 2015 16:58 ET (20:58 GMT)

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