Micron Will Cut Worldwide Workforce 15 Percent

Memory manufacturer Micron Technology plans to slash its global workforce 15 percent over the next two years, Reuters reported.

Micron has about 19,000 total employees across the globe, so 2,800 people stand to be lose their jobs with this move. Micron will also cut production of NAND flash memory, which Micro manufactures in a joint operation with Intel, at Micron's headquarters in Boise, Idaho. Micron will cut NAND flash memory production 15 percent over the next two years, on the older, less cost-effective 200 millimeter wafers.

However, Micron told Reuters that Micron and Intel were planning to increase production of the newer 300-millimeter wafers of NAND flash memory.

Micron told Reuters that a lack of demand for memory, and the current financial crisis, prompted these restructuring moves.

"We have customers calling us up right now saying they can't pay for product we've already shipped them because they can't get access to cash under their lines of credit," Mark Durcan, Micron president and COO, said in an interview, Reuters reported.

Micron reported last week that its fiscal fourth-quarter net loss had hit $344 million (45 cents a share). A year ago, Micron's fiscal fourth-quarter loss was $158 million (21 cents a share). Today shares of Micron closed up 0.26 percent at $3.88 on the NYSE. Micron told Reuters that with the restructuring, Micron expects $60 million in expenses and cash charges. Micron predicted that its 2009 cash margin benefit would be greater than $175 million.