Layoffs, Semiconductors, Manufacturing

600 Jobs Cut at MKS

Wade Roush 4/3/09

Andover, MA-based MKS Instruments (NASDAQ: MKSI), which makes measurement and control equipment for advanced manufacturing processes, said today that it reduced its global workforce by 600 positions, or about 23 percent, at the end of the first quarter. The cuts are expected to save $40 million per year, helping the company to weather a falloff in demand from semiconductor manufacturing customers. We have updated the Boston Tech Layoff Tracker with these latest figures.

Wade Roush is Xconomy's chief correspondent. You can e-mail him at wroush@xconomy.com, call him at (617) 252-7323, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/wroush.