North Carolina chipmaker Wolfspeed to lay off hundreds at main Durham campus
The Durham semiconductor manufacturer Wolfspeed will lay off around 10% of its global workforce, the company told The News & Observer on Wednesday, in a move that eliminates several hundred jobs near North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park.
Wolfspeed spokesperson Kris Camacho said the company will notify workers impacted by the layoffs over the next few days.
Prior to this week’s job cuts, the company had already reduced another 10% of its staff in the previous three months through attrition and voluntary exit agreements. As of June, Wolfspeed employed around 5,000 workers worldwide, with more than half based locally. The majority of the upcoming layoffs will impact workers in North Carolina, the company confirmed, though it did not share an exact figure.
Lowering spending has been a priority for Wolfspeed as investors have driven down its stock price over long-term liquidity and growth concerns. In August, Wolfspeed shared plans to shutter its 150-millimeter device factory in Durham as it prioritized producing 200-millimeter chip wafers. Combined, the 20% total staff reductions and factory closure will help save the company around $200 million annually, Wolfspeed stated in its latest earnings report released Wednesday.
“We are taking steps to simplify the business and capitalize on the transition to 200mm,” Camacho said. “This includes changes to our workforce, which is not a move we take lightly.”
Formed in 1987 under the name Cree, Wolfspeed has pivoted in the past five years away from producing LED lights toward exclusively making a unique semiconductor material called silicon carbide, which is sliced into chips to power appliances like electric vehicles, defense equipment and energy storage units. Wolfspeed has pioneered production of 200-millimeter silicon carbide substrates, or wafers, which are larger than the industry standard 150-millimeter size and can yield more chips.
On Wednesday’s earnings call, Wolfspeed CEO Gregg Lowe said the company will phase out its 150-millimeter device factory in Durham over the next nine to 12 months. Wolfspeed will continue to operate its corporate headquarters, just outside Research Triangle Park, where the company also runs a 150-millimeter materials facility and a separate 200-millimeter materials site called Building 10.
“These actions will foster a stronger, more agile company ready to seize the opportunities ahead,” Lowe said. “Many of these reductions have already occurred, and we expect to complete the majority of the actions by the end of the year.”
He noted Wolfspeed remains committed to hiring 1,800 workers at its incoming 200-millimeter materials factory in Chatham County by 2030. The chipmaker expects to begin shipping wafers from this facility next summer. In October, Wolfspeed received a $750 million federal grant through the CHIPS and Science Act to help fund the site.
Weaker demand for electric vehicles has hampered Wolfspeed’s financial sheet. Its stock fell 28% in after-hours trading Wednesday as Wolfspeed recorded a 1% year-over-year revenue decrease and announced revenue estimates for next quarter below investor expectations.
This story was originally published November 6, 2024 at 6:13 PM with the headline "North Carolina chipmaker Wolfspeed to lay off hundreds at main Durham campus."
