AMD to Cut 5% of Workforce

[jpiniero]

Stay classy, making jokes about people who just lost their jobs...

They are getting a severance, no? Not all of them are going to be that lucky...

 

[Arachnotronic]

While management rewards themselves with nice fat bonuses, the "average" employee, probably with a family to support, is being handed a pink-slip because the company needs to "cut costs."

Disgusting.

 

[jpiniero]

While management rewards themselves with nice fat bonuses, the "average" employee, probably with a family to support, is being handed a pink-slip because the company needs to "cut costs."

Disgusting.

Basically this isn't the first job cuts, and it won't be the last. Honestly I was expecting a larger cut this time.

 

[Arachnotronic]

Basically this isn't the first job cuts, and it won't be the last. Honestly I was expecting a larger cut this time.

I agree. It'd be nice if management weren't obviously looting the ship as it sinks, though.

 

[eternalone]

Something will happen Im suprised china hasn't stepped in yet, maybe they want to buy ultra cheap to make the most profit we will see, I cant see AMD just dying like this, but maybe Im wrong.

 

[SickBeast]

What about the Microsoft rumors? I'm really surprised that AMD has not been bought out yet. That is what they really need. Someone needs to buy them out and fire their entire management team and then give the company some proper direction.

 

[desprado]

Stay classy, making jokes about people who just lost their jobs...

It is not our falut that people are doing jobs in a company like AMD where you do not know when are going to get fired for no reason.

AMD employee are right now at more stress.

I hope AMD do not fire their driver team.

 

[desprado]

What about the Microsoft rumors? I'm really surprised that AMD has not been bought out yet. That is what they really need. Someone needs to buy them out and fire their entire management team and then give the company some proper direction.

Microsoft are doing business with nvidia.Microsoft next gen cloud will be powered by Nvidia Grid 2.0.

 

[mrmt]

"..The job cuts will affect slightly less than 500 employees, an AMD spokesman said. The company said it expects to record about $42 million in charges because of the moves and save about $58 million in expenses in 2016.

AMD, based in Sunnyvale, Calif.."

(...)

As part of the restructuring, AMD said it will take steps that include streamlining its computing and graphics chip sales efforts, creating regional presidents to oversee sales in Europe and China and outsourcing its internal technology support and application development.

So sales are plunging so low that their salesmen were basically sitting idle, and as they don't expect to have anything good to sell in 2016 then it's better to lay off personnel.

This cut seems pocket change when we think of the amount of money AMD bled last quarter. I expect a lot more of financial engineering to keep AMD running in 2016.

 

[desprado]

So sales are plunging so low that their salesmen were basically sitting idle, and as they don't expect to have anything good to sell in 2016 then it's better to lay off personnel.

This cut seems pocket change when we think of the amount of money AMD bled last quarter. I expect a lot more of financial engineering to keep AMD running in 2016.

Still AMD fanboys think that Q3 and Q4 will be goldmine for AMD due to fury X release.

 

[dark zero]

Microsoft are doing business with nvidia.Microsoft next gen cloud will be powered by Nvidia Grid 2.0.

Sadly it was cancelled too... nVIDIA got screwed up even by Microsoft... and their alliance with Sony didn't went well...
To make it worse they are the targets of Intel now...

AMD is dead, yeah, but nVIDIA must be careful because Intel might start to ruin them (yeah, it will kill the game industry.... but it always return)

 

[RussianSensation]

And that number is actually low - that isn't just their salary - it's got to be benefits as well? Wow, people are paid poorly at AMD.

We have a baller here.

"The company said that it would incur $41 million in restructuring and impairment charges in the third quarter, which would result in savings of approximately $9 million in 2015 and $58 million in 2016."

$58 million / 500 people = estimated average remuneration of $116,000 US

"The best-paying 13 companies in the Standard & Poor's 500, including computer-networking company Juniper Networks (JNPR), Netflix (NFLX) and Yahoo (YHOO), shell out median annual salaries to workers of $115,000, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data from Glassdoor.com."

"The U.S. Census Bureau reported in September 2014 that: U.S. real (inflation adjusted) median household income was $51,939 in 2013 versus $51,759 in 2012, statistically unchanged."

Ya, so if both the husband and wife worked at AMD, their average household income with benefits would have been $232,000 US. Last time I checked that's easily top 5% of all US households.

Wow, so poorly paid. I think you are confusing AMD with McDonalds or something. :whiste:

 

[bononos]

By the way, this image says it all. Sad, really.

.....
Quite amazing that their GPUs are even competitive with NV at this stage and even more so going forward post-Pascal, if they still are.

Actually that graph makes sense, AMD 7 series released on 2012 at which time the r&d plummeted which means they had to soldier on for the next 2 generations with only minor tweaking. Its a good thing that the 7 series was a winner.

 

[Rvenger]

Actually that graph makes sense, AMD 7 series released on 2012 at which time the r&d plummeted which means they had to soldier on for the next 2 generations with only minor tweaking. Its a good thing that the 7 series was a winner.

No, Fury and the delayed launch would have affected that. Hawaii and Tahiti were excellent. The execution, Hawaii Ref cooler and driver support is what hurted them, especially Tahiti drivers until 'Never Settle'. Other members will echo this. Sorry to be a little off topic.

Marketing and software... as usual...

 

[Phynaz]

AMD just needs to file already. Get the pain over with.

 

[Arachnotronic]

We have a baller here.

"The company said that it would incur $41 million in restructuring and impairment charges in the third quarter, which would result in savings of approximately $9 million in 2015 and $58 million in 2016."

$58 million / 500 people = estimated average remuneration of $116,000 US

"The best-paying 13 companies in the Standard & Poor's 500, including computer-networking company Juniper Networks (JNPR), Netflix (NFLX) and Yahoo (YHOO), shell out median annual salaries to workers of $115,000, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data from Glassdoor.com."

"The U.S. Census Bureau reported in September 2014 that: U.S. real (inflation adjusted) median household income was $51,939 in 2013 versus $51,759 in 2012, statistically unchanged."

Ya, so if both the husband and wife worked at AMD, their average household income with benefits would have been $232,000 US. Last time I checked that's easily top 5% of all US households.

Wow, so poorly paid. I think you are confusing AMD with McDonalds or something. :whiste:

Apples and oranges. The median salary number does NOT include the value of the benefits. The cost savings you calculated by dividing savings by headcount INCLUDES the rather significant value of those benefits.

Also, often times when it comes to layoffs like these, companies -- especially financially frail ones like AMD -- will lay off its "more expensive" labor while keeping around the fresh (and cheap!) college graduates.

 

[desprado]

AMD just needs to file already. Get the pain over with.

Bankruptcy are you talking about?

 

[dark zero]

AMD just needs to file already. Get the pain over with.

I bet that you must have a big wallet because once AMD dies, we are seeing solid increases in Intel processors.

AMD GPU might get bought shortly afterward and even nVIDIA GPU won't have future

 

[Arachnotronic]

I bet that you must have a big wallet because once AMD dies, we are seeing solid increases in Intel processors.

Jeez dude, AMD hasn't offered anything remotely competitive with Intel in PC CPUs in years and Intel's pricing has basically stayed the same.

If Intel were to jack up prices on its CPUs as you suggest, it would see lowered demand for its chips.

If AMD went bankrupt tomorrow, Intel would still have to contend with its two largest "competitors": the products it sold you yesterday and the fact that people are shifting their tech dollars to devices other than PCs (smartphones and tablets).

 

[desprado]

I bet that you must have a big wallet because once AMD dies, we are seeing solid increases in Intel processors.

AMD GPU might get bought shortly afterward and even nVIDIA GPU won't have future

There is no competition between AMD and Intel.

 

[dark zero]

There is no competition between AMD and Intel.

But Intel can't increase their prices since AMD is still cheap... with AMD dead, VIA is the only survivor and is expensive...

 

[microAmp]

For those working on the math part of paying employees.

When I was there and they did layoffs, those that got cut that day, typically late October, they were paid out to the end of the year, 2 months more pay. Then they get 4 weeks pay + 2 weeks per year of service; now maxed at 26 weeks pay.

For others, such as myself, told we were but staying on until XYZ months. For me and additional 5 months, Oct-Mar; others were Oct-June/July. Then the 4 weeks + 2 weeks per year of service, maxed at 26 weeks.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Still feel bad for those getting laid off, but that severance is pretty good. First job I had for many, many years had no severance at all. My current job gives one week per year of service.

 

[Boze]

I feel for the people at AMD, but this is really just the culmination of a decade of effing awful decision making by a lot of higher ups. The level of incompetence is just staggering... and I'm really sick of seeing the dead horse of the Intel antitrust lawsuit being beaten constantly.

That hasn't been an issue for over a decade now. Most of what's going on is 100% the fault of AMD.

I just hope AMD can hang on long enough to get Zen out... not because I really care about whether they survive, but mostly so I can cash in my mountain of "I told you so"s that are piling up on a daily basis, because as Arachnotronic pointed out, Intel doesn't compete with AMD, they compete against themselves.

For the first time in a long time, I'm actually considering bypassing a <architecture>-E processor / motherboard combo and just riding out a few generations, maybe not upgrade until 2022 or so.

 

[RussianSensation]

Most of what's going on is 100% the fault of AMD.

Even when AMD had great processors like Athlon XP and hands down superior processors with Athlon 64/X2 for years, their market share never even came close to 50%. Under normal circumstances like the massive swings we see in the GPU market, in an objective market of pure dominance like the A64/X2 series had, Intel's market share should have been < 50%. Pentium 4/D was junk.

I think most people were never realistic about AMD's chances against Intel and once AMD did a leveraged buy-out with ATI, many people thought it was a horrible idea and a death sentence to their CPU/GPU divisions.

I mean how in the world can a company be able to produce world class CPUs and GPUs against 2 leading companies in both of those segments, that have less debt, more financial resources, waaaaaaaaaaaay more attached/loyal customer base?

I mean look at GeForce 5 and 7. Those were garbage series from NV but at no point did we ever see NV's market share drop to 18%. I mean in all honesty GeForce 5 was magnitudes of times worse than AMD's GPU series in the last 3 years. It's not even comparable. Essentially NV's/Intel's brand name and loyalty ensure that even when those firms made mistakes, it wasn't fatal/non-reversible market share loss. With AMD, it basically means they have to beat Intel/NV just to gain market share. That's clearly not the case with Intel and especially not with NV.

I don't know how people still expect Zen to tie or even beat Intel. Did they actually check the market cap of AMD and Intel recently and the number of engineers/employees at both firms? :biggrin:

AMD just needs to file already. Get the pain over with.

I am trying to understand how that would actually help us, the consumers.

Do you need to be reminded of $649 GTX280 which forced NV to send rebates and drop price by $150 the week a $299 HD4870 came out? How in the world can you ignore a $259 HD5850, or $299 HD6950 that unlocked to a 6970 and gave 580 a run for the $?

If we go back to X1950 series or even 9700Pro/9800Pro <-- those were legendary.

What about $650 GTX780 that looked like a giant overpriced turd the day R9 290 came out for $399? I mean seriously, if you only buy Intel/NV, no problem, but having some competitor to NV ensures that prices stay somewhat in the realm of reasonability.

I've read stupid arguments how NV would need to entice gamers to upgrade. Ya, like 14% more performance in a GTX960 vs. a 1.5 year old GTX760. Sounds like fun! Also, do you honestly think NV needed to be as aggressive with GTX980Ti's price if it wasn't anticipating Fury X to level their 980?

I know some people think competition doesn't drive innovation and major reset points in price/performance levels every generation, but they are clearly delusional.

Apples and oranges. The median salary number does NOT include the value of the benefits. The cost savings you calculated by dividing savings by headcount INCLUDES the rather significant value of those benefits.

His comment was ludicrous no matter if you include the benefits or not. How much do you think benefits are $20K? That still puts the average salary close to $100K US. Since we don't have the split, the average is the only way to get a ballpark.

Look at the salaries of many well-known US firms - nowhere close to $116K in total compensation.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...-makes-more-than-200-times-the-median-worker/

Now he could be making $5 million dollars a year for all we care, but objectively speaking there is no way the average engineer at AMD is poorly paid relative to US/world standards. Comments like these remind me of my douche-bag friend who owns 64 condos and thinks $500,000 in total comp a year is living broke.

Do you realize how assassinate it sounds if you met 2x AMD engineers that were husband and wife and made $232,000 in total comp with medical/dental benefits and you said to them that they are poorly paid? 95%+ of American households would love to be in that position -- as of 2012, to be in the top 4%, you'd have to make $207,000 US in household comp. Considering wages have hardly changed in the last 3 years, this point still holds. To say that $114-116K US total comp per person is poorly paid is almost everyone else is in the world poorly paid.

Comments like those are pure ignorance on behalf of Americans/people born into a privileged societies/systems where even an idiot could make $40,000 US if they went to college, but it's important to be aware what happens in the rest of the world.

Your comment that they laid off many high-earning employees changes nothing about the comment made earlier in reference to $114-116K total comp being poorly paid. I bet anything that 80% of people on AT do not get total comp of $114-116K US a year on a consistent basis.