110 TriQuint workers to lose their jobs

Fiber Optics Weekly Update, Dec 3, 2004

Breinigsville, Pennsylvania, facility will shut down its fiber-optics R & D unit

TriQuint Semiconductor will cut 110 mostly white-collar jobs, or about half of the work force at its Breinigsville facility, the company announced.

The employees work mostly in research and development for a unit of its unprofitable fiber-optics division. TriQuint will shut down that unit.

The cuts will leave about 120 employees at the Breinigsville facility, where TriQuint will continue to make lasers and detectors for fiber-optic networks.

TriQuint has had a difficult time wringing a profit out of the former Agere business. The company said last month the fiber-optics division is one of the main obstacles to its financial health. In a recent conference call with analysts, TriQuint officials said the outlook for the industry remains bleak.

The 110 people TriQuint will cut work on pluggable modules, which combine components used in fiber-optic networks. The components TriQuint makes transmit and receive beams of light that carry voice and data signals in high-speed fiber-optic networks.

The company, which also makes components for cellphones and military equipment, had annual sales of $312.3 million last year. It reported a loss of $73 million.