Some 200 will be let go from plants in Kalispell and Libby. The remaining 80 jobs will be lost from the ranks of sales and service in other states and countries.
The high-tech company has struggled for months, as customer orders have fallen off sharply amid a global recession. In November, the company laid off 100 Montana workers, or about 13 percent of its statewide work force.
With Thursday's announcement, about
38 percent of the original Montana work force has now been laid off.
The cutbacks, according to a company press release, are “in response to extreme business circumstances in our industry and the world economy,” including several unexpected order cancellations.
As consumers rein in spending and purchase fewer computers and other electronics, demand has fallen for machines that run on microprocessor chips. At the heart of those chips are semiconductors, and Semitool makes the machines that make semiconductors.
Orders for the machines have plummeted as electronics manufacturers cut back production.
In December, for instance, Toshiba announced it would temporarily halt all chip production, for the first time in seven years. Within days, several foreign and domestic semiconductor businesses announced layoffs, and Semitool enacted the temporary shutdown.
And SEMI, an industry trade association, announced late last year that the semiconductor manufacturing equipment market - which was up 6 percent in 2007 - would end 2008 down by nearly
30 percent. Analysts predict a similar drop of about
20 percent in 2009, but are hopeful of some rebound in 2010.
In addition to the recent layoffs and plant closures, Semitool has ordered salary reductions and mandatory time off. On Thursday, management said those types of measures will continue.
No other layoffs are currently expected at Semitool, but “like other companies impacted by world economic conditions, we will have to remain responsive to those conditions,” management said in the release.
Following Thursday's cutbacks, the company will employ about 550 in Montana, and another 320 worldwide.
The job losses will be felt especially keenly in the Flathead Valley, where other large employers have reduced their labor force dramatically. Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. last week announced a complete shutdown, and Plum Creek Timber Co. laid off another 145 on Thursday, the same day as the Semitool announcement.
Managers at the local Job Service say the number of unemployment claims is skyrocketing here, with far more job seekers than jobs. Unemployment in the area has cracked the 7 percent mark, a swift turnaround from just two years ago, when employers could not find enough workers and wages were pressing upward.
Job Service managers recently said the number of local employment listings is the lowest since 2002, with health care and education the only consistent bright spots.
Following Thursday's announcement, Semitool stock closed at $3.28, down from the $10 range it enjoyed through much of 2008, but up from a $2.21 low point in late November.
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socalled wrote on Jan 10, 2009 12:41 PM:
It sure doesn't seem to be working out that way.
I sure get tired of all these local ecomomic type cheerleaders, UM professors and the like, always trying to sugar coat things, mostly for their own benefit; either that or they just don't have a clue. Either way it speaks volumes on their credibility - remember that next time you hear one blowing the usualy optimistic hot air. "