China’s Yangtze Memory lays off and evicts staff • The Register

Including insult to damage, workers laid off by Chinese language memory-maker Yangtze Reminiscence Applied sciences Corp (YTMC) not solely misplaced their jobs, however had been evicted from their company-subsidized residences in Wuhan, in line with Chinese language media outlet Caixin.

The Chinese language state-owned memory-maker let go of between 5 and ten p.c of workers in latest weeks – a response to the consequences of being added to a US commerce embargo list and a basic financial downturn within the IC business. In keeping with Caixin, the employees got one month to finish their transfer or the choice to pay quantities as much as $148,000 to remain of their present lodging.

One YTMC worker reportedly confirmed that the layoffs affected “virtually all departments,” nevertheless not all had been evicted as not all staff certified for housing perks.

Flats had been reportedly supplied to core managers and R&D staff at a reduced charge within the second half of 2020 as a part of their whole compensation packages. 5 years of employment with the corporate would assure possession, shorter service meant extra repayments of between $44,000 and $200,000 had been required.

YTMC mass produces 128 and 232-layer NAND flash reminiscence, competing towards the likes of Micron, SK hynix and Samsung. Micron has declared it’s going to additionally lay off round ten p.c of its workforce.

It is not exhausting to see why: world NAND flash income fell by 24.3 p.c quarter-on-quarter for 3Q22, according to analyst firm Trendforce in November 2022. Trendforce predicted This autumn 2022 would carry additional drops, leading to business income falling round 20 p.c quarter-on-quarter because the commodity stays oversupplied.

Analysts and market analysis corporations alike predicted in late 2022 that YTMC would face a troublesome path as not solely had been restrictions put in place but in addition patrons exterior of China turned reluctant to undertake the chip store’s know-how. In keeping with TrendForce, potential mitigating methods embrace the agency abandoning the 3D NAND flash market or pivoting to manufacturing logic semiconductors utilizing a mature course of.

However as YTMC is state-owned and has no obligation to report outcomes, it stays to be seen if it’s going to take the suggestion.

Evicting workers is in marked distinction to US tech employers, usually pay laid-off workers a number of months severance and provide outplacement companies to seek out them new gigs. The place’s the employees’ paradise now? ®