GlobalFoundries is offering voluntary buyouts to some employees at the company's Essex Junction facility formerly owned by IBM.
According to the Albany Business Review, company spokesman Jason Gorss says the buyouts, which also include former IBM employees in upstate New York, is a response to a decline in the semiconductor industry.
The paper says Gorss declined to say how many jobs the company is trying to eliminate.
According to the report, when asked about the possibility of layoffs, Gorss responded that GlobalFoundries would wait to see the results of the buyout offer to determine, “if any further actions will be required."
GlobalFoundries officially acquired IBM’s Essex Junction facility in July. At the time, company officials reiterated assurances that the workforce would not shrink and that they were actively hiring.
In a statement issued Friday, GlobalFoundries said, "The action we took today is a Voluntary Separation program, which is part of a set of cost-savings measures to help us achieve a more competitive cost structure while our industry is in a downturn."
The company says the buyout is being offered to U.S.-based employees, including those in Essex Jct. adding that each location, "has a cost-savings goal and, in the U.S., this includes savings through voluntary attrition".
Update 7:09 p.m. This story has been updated to include information from a GlobalFoundries statement.
