PORTLAND, Maine — The new owner of a South Portland semiconductor plant plans to cut more than 100 jobs, according to a document filed with the federal government late last week, but it’s unclear whether any Maine workers would be included in that layoff.
ON Semiconductor Corporation, which last week finalized its $2.4 billion purchase of California-based Fairchild Semiconductor, called the layoffs part of a “cost-reduction plan,” in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“The first step of [the company’s plan] is to eliminate approximately 130 positions from its workforce as a result of redundancies and position eliminations,” Executive Vice President George Cave wrote in the document, which was signed Friday.
The company did not respond to repeated questions about the layoffs. When asked whether jobs were being cut in Maine, an employee in the South Portland office said, “I’m unable to confirm or deny any information, unfortunately.”
Based in Arizona, ON Semiconductor is a publicly traded company that employs 24,500 people in the North America, Europe and Asia, according to its website. Between 501 and 1,000 of those employees work at a chip plant in South Portland that previously had been owned by Fairchild, according to the Maine Department of Labor. This makes it the 24th largest employer in Cumberland County.
The layoffs will cost the company between $21 and $24 million, largely in termination benefits that mostly will be paid out by December of this year, according to the SEC filing.
South Portland city government had not been informed of layoffs to the local plant but has reached out to the company for more information, Interim City Manager Don Gerrish said Tuesday. There is no requirement for the company to inform the city of job cuts.
ON Semiconductor “continues to evaluate the remaining positions for redundancies,” according to the filing.