Micron announces 10-pct workforce cut in 2023 amid fiscal loss

Micron Technology, one of the largest chip makers in the world, said on Wednesday that the company will cut its workforce by 10 percent in 2023, reporting a fiscal first-quarter loss and foreseeing more headwinds across the semiconductor industry.

"Over the course of the calendar year 2023, we are reducing our headcount by approximately 10 percent through voluntary attrition and personnel reductions," the company said in a statement.

Based on its employee numbers, Micron would be cutting nearly 5,000 workers in 2023.

"Experiencing the most severe imbalance between supply and demand in both DRAM and NAND in the last 13 years," the company is "taking decisive actions to cut our supply and expenses," Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said in the statement.

The memory chip maker reported a fiscal first-quarter loss of 4 cents a share on revenue of US$4.1 billion, which is down 39 percent sequentially and down 47 percent year on year.

The company expects to lose between 52 and 72 cents a share for its fiscal second quarter.

Micron said that demand trends for memory might gradually improve "as customer inventory levels improve further, new CPU platforms are launched, and China's demand starts to grow" over the next few months.

Still, "industry profitability will remain challenged" throughout 2023, it added.