A Pennsylvania maker of gear to produce chips is shifting most manufacturing done at an Irvine plant to Malaysia and Singapore, laying off 56 people.
Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc., based in the Philadelphia suburb of Fort Washington, plans to cut most manufacturing jobs at its Irvine plant during the next two years, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
A small number of manufacturing jobs will remain at the site, a spokesman said.
Kulicke & Soffa plans to keep about 150 engineering, marketing and sales and other jobs in Irvine, he said.
The company expects to incur costs of $1.8 million from the manufacturing move, including $1.3 million in severance costs and $500,000 in retention costs.
Kulicke & Soffa acquired the Irvine plant when it bought the assets of Orthodyne Electronics Corp. in 2008 for about $125 million plus $40 million in incentive payments.
Irvine-based Orthodyne made wedge bonders used to connect small wires to a semiconductor.
At the time of acquisition, Orthodyne had nearly 300 employees.
