News in recent days that AMD - Advanced Micro Devices - is about to layoff 20 percent of its global workforce triggered speculation - along with rumors - about the impact this would have on the chipfab plant in Malta. Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.
Unnamed sources have told several publications that AMD may have to resort to laying off workers in the wake of declining profits and stock prices. The news rang a few alarm bells in upstate New York, some sources suggesting Global Foundries' Luther Forest campus could be adversely affected. Global Foundries' Travis Bullard says nothing could be farther from the truth.
Globalfoundries is now wholly owned by he Advanced Technology Investment Corporation of Abu Dhabi. G.F. was created in 2009 when the investment arm of the government of Abu Dhabi bought the manufacturing operations of Advanced Micro Devices, then merged them with a semiconductor manufacturing company it purchased in Singapore.
While the financial condition of AMD may be in peril, Travis Bullard paints a much rosier picture for Global Foundries. He expects Global Foundries to continue adding jobs, boosting the local economy: Malta town Supervisor Paul Sausville adds the local educational system has benefitted from school and property taxes collected under the pilot agreement Malta has with Global Foundries and with the State of New York.
