United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), the second-biggest made-to-order chip manufacturer, yesterday laid off 266 employees, accounting for 2.83 percent of the chipmaker's total workforce, an anyomous source told the Taipei Times late last night.
The firing caught most of the company employees by surprise as Chairman Robert Tsao (曹興誠) had assured them earlier last week in an e-mail that they would not get pink slips, although the company may have to shut down two fabs.
Last week, company spokesman Alex Hinnawi echoed the firm's stance that "letting employees go is not an option."
But by Thursday night, 266 employees were told to assemble yesterday morning at the company's 8E fab, upon which they were fired on the spot.
The staff cuts included 80 engineers, 160 production line employees and several middle management staff.
One pundit was far from surprized at the news.
"I'm not surprized as the fundamentals are so bad and the outlook for the chip sector continues to look bad," said Ken Chang (張家維) a computer chip analyst at China Securities Co Ltd (中信證券).
"The impact of the news on the company's stock next week will be minor."
Meanwhile, sources say that with the company suffering from the chip sector slowdown, they may encourage some staff to work at UMC's Singapore fab which is currently under construction, and slated to open in late 2002.
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