Thursday, February 5, 2009

ON Semiconductor to Close Another Fab: 350 Jobs Lost

ON Semiconductor announced Wednesday that it will close its remaining wafer-fab facility in its hometown of Phoenix. The news comes less than a month after ON revealed several severe cost-cutting measures, including the elimination of 10 percent of its worldwide workforce and the acceleration of a planned shutdown of other factories. ON explained that closing the Phoenix location will result in the loss of some 350 jobs and will ultimately save the company about $9 million per quarter. According to ON, the 6-inch wafer facility will cease operations in about a year; production, the firm noted, will be transferred elsewhere. ON said the Phoenix plant has cranked out electronic components since the 1960s.