By Cate Lecuyer
BEVERLY — In the midst of a struggling electronic market, Axcelis Technologies laid off another 235 workers worldwide.
It's unclear how many employees were affected at its Cherry Hill Industrial Park headquarters. The company did not return phone calls yesterday.
"This is a difficult but necessary decision due to the continued weakness in the semiconductor industry," CEO Mary Puma said in a prepared statement. "These actions will ensure that we will be able to respond to customer demand when the market rebounds."
In the last two years, Axcelis has laid off a total of 719 full-time employees at its 51 locations in 16 countries. The majority — at least 410 — have been in the Beverly office. At the end of 2007, there were 1,257 workers there; at the end of 2008, there were 847.
Maureen Hart, director of corporate communications, said in April that more layoffs would be a last resort. The company makes machines used to produce parts for semiconductor chips that go in products like cell phones and iPods. Hart said they planned to retain as many people as possible while waiting for the economy to improve.
Instead, they did temporary layoffs and plant shutdowns. Beginning in January, about 50 local employees took a one- to three-month furlough, under which they could still collect benefits and unemployment. The whole company also closed for two weeks in February and two weeks in April as a way to cut costs.
Axcelis also avoided a takeover by Sumitomo Heavy Industries but sold the Japanese firm its $133 million stake in a joint venture to pay off overdue debt and gain some cash flow.
Axcelis announced this latest round of layoffs after a reported $29 million net loss during the first quarter of 2009. The company lost $141 million during the fourth quarter of 2008. The cuts are expected to save $25 million a year, according to a press release.
"Given the severity of this downturn," the release said, "these additional actions were required to better align operating costs with near term revenue expectations."
Staff writer Cate Lecuyer can be reached at clecuyer@salemnews.com.
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