National Semiconductor Corp. plans to close a chip assembly plant in Singapore to reduce costs, leaving 950 employees without a job. The company had been seeking a buyer for the plant since early March, but decided to close it instead and shift production to chip factories in Malaysia and China, National Semiconductor said in a statement on Wednesday.
Senior staff in Singapore will work with the government there and with other employers to find jobs for affected workers, National Semiconductor said.
The plant closure could take nearly a year to complete, but the U.S. chip maker did not specify a date for the shutdown, which will incur charges of US$27 million to US$30 million. The company expects to eventually save up to US$6 million per quarter from the closure, National Semiconductor said.