Next layoff is likely going to be February per rumors my friend, an executive admin, has heard. More cutting from the highly paid ranks of technical staff. Last time it was largely engineers and R&D, but this time it will be techs that are higher on the pay scale. Mgmt is worried that the early 2019 layoff will trigger an exodus. Shows you how clueless they are, as that has already happened.
Any more info on this?
I heard something very similar from one of my old colleagues back at Fab8. He was going to wait until spring to start looking to abandon ship (kids in school, wife works for school system) but now he's saying he will start after the holidays.
OP here. Friend verified mgmt is meeting after the holidays, probably to discuss another round of layoffs. They are looking for more cost savings, so friend's opinion is that highly paid employees will be the target. Some lower level management will be targeted, especially those with few direct employees. Still looking for mid-February as the timeframe.
Big CEO meeting coming in January with mid and senior management....watch out.
Lies, lies, lies, again! Fab8 is doing exceptionally well and we are exceeding revenue and yield expectations on all levels. Why would you sell when it is making more money than ever? People are happy working here, so happy we are hiring even more people to make happy. You need to quit reading this board and start your own pivot to prosperity.
Rumor has it global will sell everything in fab 8
Agreed that EFK and Burlington are of little concern to the feds. I retired from the Army, and the government is not going to save EFK. I'm from this area, and came home after retirement. I saw the Army, Department of Defense, and the government at large let things go. Even "strategic" things were neglected, and sometimes it was cheaper to buy from junk suppliers, even foreign ones, we shouldn't have been buying anything from, much less necessary items for soldiers. The government will do what is easiest - buy from the lowest bidder - before they run EFK, or pay someone like Lockheed or Grumman to do it.
NSA CIA DOD OSS CID NRO DIA - right. "Defence"? You're not even American, and probably not even a US citizen. I am, and I worked for the government as a contract specialist for the DoD for years before moving to a DoD contractor, for whom I now work. We source a lot of chips from a lot of companies, for a lot of systems. The "top secret" stuff isn't mainly the chips. It's the technology as a whole. Neither Fishkill, nor Burlington is worth it. My company would never buy either of those plants. We would build one of our own first, but that isn't going to happen because we don't need to do it. And you know jack-all about the DoD if you think they won't build a fab. When does the DoD ever do anything with fiscal concerns in mind? Boy, have you given me a laugh with that!
I know you said "suppliers" and I was clearly talking about trusted "foundry" since GF doesn't supply anything. I am sure Coca-Cola is a trusted supplier to the DoD, so what? The trusted foundry portion of the old IBM has a lot of business that cannot be done anywhere else
Do you even understand what the trusted foundry program is? It is not just the DoD using them, it is all the Defence contractors. It has nothing do with buying OTS parts from DigiKey or Newegg. It's about custom designed chips like processors, PMUs, etc. I don't think L-3, Lockheed, GD are going to be replacing their custom 14, 32, 45nm ASICs in phase-array radar, missile tracking systems, submarine control systems through shopping on eBay. My point was (and it seems you actually agree with it to some extent) is that there are mission critical parts made in the GF Trusted foundry program THAT CANNOT BE MADE ANYWHERE ELSE. So no foreign entity is going to be allowed to own those fabs (though it seems several Chinese entities have wanted to get GF for a song). Your comment about the government building their own fab to replace it is just plain stupid and you know it-you are talking about a minimum of 5 years and billions in investment when there are 2 factories that you are using already just sitting there. I think the likely scenario is that the government will step in and compensate (ie, subsidize) one of the existing trusted foundry partners (On, TSI, Northrop) to take over Fab10 (and possibly Fab9) to ensure the uninterrupted flow of mission critical parts.
As far as the government owning secret fabs, I am sure the "alphabet" agencies have their own fab (or fabs) but just nothing below 180 or 90nm and it would not be available to the private Defence contractors. Though I have no direct knowledge of such things, I've just seen things on the internets like wikipedia (Ft Meade and the old Sony fab in San Antonio-see what I mean by repurposing).
Intel and Micron are not part of the trusted foundry program, which is why I said "suppliers". The DoD has sourced from them before, and will continue to do so in the future more than likely. No other company is going to purchase and operate EFK at a loss, even with the guaranteed business from the Trusted Foundry program, just to supply the federal government with chips. If anything, the government would have to run EFK, and they're more likely to build a fab in a secure location on their own first.
Neither Micron nor Intel are trusted foundries.
https://www.dmea.osd.mil/otherdocs/accreditedsuppliers.pdf
The government wouldn't step in to save EFK. They used to have their own fab and they shuttered it years ago. Micron and Intel are trusted suppliers. That seems to be good enough for Uncle Sam. TSMC supplies the DoD as well. Chips are just one tiny piece of military technology. Plenty of other pieces of the puzzle come from foreign suppliers and from multinational corporations. We're not going to war with China anytime soon, and the last thing they want is a war with us. Trusted foundry doesn't really mean much anymore.
Burlington is making money mostly through the RF/SOI flows and is "trusted". EFK is only good for 14HP which is getting some "trusted" traction in ASICs as well, so unlikely USA gov't would let them shutter or go to a foreign entity (esp. China). No office space to sell in Cali, it's only rented. The ex-IBM patents bring a few bucks but not enough to sustain any kind of development so maybe a patent "factory" can purchase them. Singapore (Chartered) fabs run high volume but small margins, so also not good for any serious development, just ca$h flow which is not that sustainable in this industry without commitment to development. So who knows what can sell for what price? Mubadala certainly has had enough, let's see if there are any takers.
What are they planning on selling is my question? Old fabs that IBM couldn't sell? The Malta fab that no one will want? Outdated IP from IBM? The only thing of value may be their Singapore plant, and any office space actually owned in CA. Everybody is talking about a sale, but to who and of what? You can only sell items of value to others. Global's got nothing in that department.
The company is most likely positioning itself for a sell off. Otherwise, how else can you explain letting go of the technologists and engineers, who carry the water? GF is notorious for lacking engineering experience alreadt and a SLT with little to no technical expertise (and management expertise judging by how they have run the place).
From what I hear, people have left, but there's no talk of not having the layoffs. They still need to reduce headcount, so given that management and the office positions will be safe, I would guess more technical staff will be let go.