Orange County’s biggest chipmakers in the 10 months through the end of April staved off deep job cuts that have defined the sector following Broadcom Corp.’s $37 billion sale to Singapore-based Avago Technologies Inc. last February.
The 16 biggest here cut 15 local positions combined since late August, when the Business Journal published its last industry tally. The key business sector decreased employment to 3,947 workers, essentially flat.
Though it posted its second straight year of job losses, they were mild compared to the 16% drop last year—believed to be the biggest local decrease ever—that was fueled by big cuts at Broadcom’s Irvine campus and a string of divestitures.
Six companies on this week’s list added workers, and three were down. Seven companies’ numbers were either Business Journal estimates or they didn’t provide enough information for a year-over-year comparison.
The top four employers maintained their previous rankings.
• Perennial No. 1, Broadcom Ltd., had an estimated 1,630 employees at its University Research campus, down from an estimated 1,650. The company stopped providing employment figures to the Business Journal after its sale.
Broadcom’s ongoing job cuts in Irvine have reached at least 771, according to filings with the California Employment Development Department. That’s roughly a third of its local operation, which could experience further downsizing.
The Business Journal reports in this edition that Aliso Viejo-based FivePoint Communities Inc. said it’s considering repurchasing Broadcom’s campus that’s under construction at Great Park Neighborhoods in Irvine (see story, page 1). As part of the transaction, it would lease back two of the buildings to Broadcom.
The chipmaker in March 2015 paid about $156 million for the site, including the land, taxes and other fees, and originally planned to occupy at least four buildings.
• No. 3, Woburn, Mass.-based Skyworks Solutions Inc., added 24 employees, up 7.3% to 354.
The company is fresh off of a solid March quarter, when it posted sales of $851.7 million and an adjusted profit of $272 million, both beating Wall Street estimates.
Chief Executive Liam Griffin, who runs the company from Irvine, credited increasing demand for high-speed connectivity in the mobile and Internet of Things segments for exceeding the financial targets.
Its growing Irvine operation houses several senior executives, a design center, application engineering support, sales, marketing, operations, quality and supply chain personnel.
• No. 4, Aliso Viejo-based Microsemi Corp., cut 28 employees, down 10.8% to 231 locally.
The company has unloaded some unwanted business units over the past few years that it acquired in its $2.5 billion buy of PMC-Sierra Inc. in January 2016. It acquired the Sunnyvale-based chipmaker, which specializes in chips geared for server applications and the world’s biggest big-data aggregators, after a two-month bidding war with Skyworks.
Microsemi in March closed a manufacturing plant in China that produced “lower value” devices not aligned with its strategic direction.
• Santa Clara-based Inphi Corp. moved down one spot to No. 11 with an estimated 68 local workers. The company acquired ClariPhy Communications Inc. in Irvine in December for $275 million, plus debt. ClariPhy was founded in 2002 by Nariman Yousefi, who helped establish Broadcom Corp.’s networking group.
Chipmakers on the list added 15,365 companywide employees to 236,723 positions, the second straight sizeable annual gain due to global consolidation.
Broadcom alone added about 7,500 workers, the lion’s share coming on after Avago acquired Broadcom Corp. and renamed the company.
The chipmaker acquired the photodetector business of Irvine-based chipmaker Cosemi Technologies Inc. in February on undisclosed financial terms.
Cosemi, as part of the deal, agreed to buy some of Broadcom’s photodetector technology and other components, such as lasers.
Broadcom should gain a regulatory nod from Europe as early as this week on its $5.5 billion buy of San Jose-based Brocade Communications Inc. as the transaction seeks approvals around the world.
