Lam Research, one of Oregon’s largest manufacturers, will lay off 7% of staff

Published 3:40 pm Thursday, January 26, 2023

Lam Research, one of Oregon’s largest manufacturing employers, said Wednesday it plans to lay off 7% of its workforce as it responds to cooling market demand and restrictions on sales to China.

Lam makes tools for semiconductor production. The Silicon Valley company has about 4,000 employees at its 52-acre Tualatin campus and recently opened a Sherwood factory where it employs a few hundred more.

It’s not clear how many will lose their jobs in Oregon, and Lam didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. If it applies the layoffs equally across the company, cuts in Tualatin and Sherwood could total around 300.

After a boom in computer chips early in the pandemic, demand has fallen sharply for many product categories.

Lam said Wednesday that it expects revenue around $3.8 billion in the current quarter, down from $5.2 billion last quarter. The company recorded a $1.5 billion profit last quarter.

Lam reiterated that it expects new federal restrictions on sales of high-tech equipment to China will reduce revenue by at least $2 billion in the current fiscal year.

Lam’s layoffs are the latest in a series of job cuts at large tech companies. Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook parent company Meta have each announced plans to eliminate at least 10,000 jobs, responding to a downturn in demand and changing business priorities.

None of those companies are major Oregon employers, but Intel — the state’s largest corporate employer — is in the process of cutting at least $3 billion in costs. It has announced more than 500 layoffs in California, but none so far in Oregon.

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