Layoffs Have Begun at GlobalFoundries Plant in Essex Junction

Source: VTDigger

GlobalFoundries has begun laying off employees at its massive plant in Essex Junction.

“As communicated in early December, we have begun the process of notifying impacted employees at our Burlington, Vermont, site and plan to complete these notifications by the end of this week,” Gina DeRossi, a spokesperson for GlobalFoundries, said in an email to VTDigger.

DeRossi declined to say how many Vermont employees are losing their jobs.

The Essex Junction plant, which was operated for decades by IBM, is the largest private employer in Vermont, with more than 2,000 employees and 800 contractors. Worldwide, the semiconductor manufacturer employs about 14,000 people.

The company said previously that it would lay off about 800 people worldwide, or about 5.7% of its employees. The company’s chief executive officer, Thomas Caulfield, said last month that the company would have to cut $100 million in costs next year in anticipation of a decline in demand for semiconductors as the world economy slows down. 

Dustin Degree, deputy commissioner of the Vermont Department of Labor, said the department has not been formally notified of layoffs by GlobalFoundries, but he said the company has been in contact with members of Gov. Phil Scott’s administration regarding layoffs.

“We expect to receive official, detailed communication of this action required under state and federal notice statutes in the coming days,” Degree said. He said the company has not communicated how many people are being laid off at the Essex Junction plant. If the company were to lay off 5.7 percent of its Essex Junction employees, approximately 114 people could lose their jobs. 

An employee at the plant told VTDigger that layoffs are being announced department by department, with no overall number of layoffs at the plant being released to employees.