Atmel cuts U.S. jobs, lowers forecast

Atmel (San Jose) has also ordered a 10-day shutdown for non-manufacturing employees. It has also implemented a hiring freeze and put strict controls on all discretionary spending.

The company now estimates fourth quarter 2008 revenues will be down 12-to-18 percent from the $400 million recognized in the third quarter of 2008.

A spokesman for Atmel said Monday that the cuts would impact about 275 jobs. The Colorado Springs Gazette reported that 245 Atmel employees were cut at the company's Colorado Springs fab.

"Atmel, like many companies in our industry, is seeing the effects of the broader economic decline, particularly in our memory and automotive product lines," said Steven Laub, Atmel's president and CEO, in a statement. "We believe the actions we are taking to reduce costs and manufacturing capacity, together with our previously announced transformation plan, will mitigate these market challenges and support Atmel's continued product leadership and market share gains."

It has taken a number of actions to cut costs in recent times. In July, the chip maker looked to cut up to 210 workers within its operations in France.

In a complex arrangement that in effect rids the company of the German manufacturing operation it has been trying to sell for two years, Atmel in September said that a U.K. company has agreed to buy the fab's equipment and lease the facility from Atmel.

Atmel recently posted a $4.7 million GAAP net loss for the third quarter after reporting a profit in the same period of 2007. The company also rejected an unsolicited $2.3 billion bid to acquire the company made by Microchip Technology Inc. and On Semiconductor Corp.