AMD announces further job cuts

AMD's latest job cuts will account for roughly three per cent of its workforce

AMD has confirmed that it will cut around 500 jobs, distributed equally throughout its operations, in what the vendor described as a general cost-cutting measure.

No single unit is being targeted with the cuts, which will account for roughly three per cent of AMD's total workforce.

News of the layoffs is the latest in string of bad news for AMD and the technology industry as a whole. Businesses throughout the IT and consumer electronics sectors have been cutting jobs in anticipation of economic turbulence in the coming months.

AMD is also still trying to recover from its self-inflicted economic woes. Following its $5.4bn acquisition of graphics card specialist ATI in late 2006, AMD's fortunes took a turn for the worse.

The financial impact from the ATI buy, coupled with a delay in the development of new chips, allowed rival Intel to surge ahead in the market.

AMD then went into a financial tailspin which has included eight consecutive quarters of financial loss, the resignation of chief executive Hector Ruiz and the decision to spin off its fabrication operations in an effort to shed mounting debts.

The move is also the second round of layoffs at AMD this year. In April, the company was forced to cut some 1,600 employees as part of a restructuring plan.