Local manufacture company lays off nearly half their staff

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — A Capital Region company that makes wafers for the semiconductor industry are firing nearly half of their workforce just before the holiday season. NEWS10 speaks with some local workers who were let go with little notice.

“About 40 of us got that email and that was it. Turned in our badges and that was all the warning we got,” said former pallidus employee, Anthony Williams.  

As the semiconductor and chip business grows in the Capital Region some employees at pallidus are feeling the downside of the changing industry. The company makes 6-inch wafers for computer microchips. The market now calls for 8-inch wafers. A professor at UAlbany Nano Tech suggests, “Making that switch would require investment in new tools but may also reduce the overall cost per unit (and hence price) of a chip.”

The wafer maker company, pallidus, writes on their website that they secured a multimillion-dollar investment in 2021 to beef up their facility. Yet, employees say the company was struggling.  “They had gone to a worldwide conference and realized that we were behind the ball on what we were producing,” said Williams.

The real concern of several employees, who were recently let go, is that they say the company is not abiding by the New York WARN Act. WARN requires companies to give early warning of closing and layoffs to employees, and the State Department of Labor.

“With a family this close to Christmas, you know, we never got our bonuses that they promised us over the years. All this other stuff. We don’t have control over their decisions,” stated Williams.

Another former pallidus employee, Timothy Lawya says, “I’m not represented by any of their benefits. But the impropriety that we were out have work and then gave us I think it was a week of pay per year service.”

It’s not the first time the company has let go of a large number of their staff. Williams remembering, “I knew that last year during the layoffs, they were just under that number and it was never mentioned.”

The New York State Department of Labor says, “The Department is still reviewing the layoffs at pallidus in Albany. We encourage impacted workers to contact the local Rapid Response Team for job search resources and assistance.”

The company pallidus responds to our inquiries by saying, “The Company has contacted pertinent stakeholders to ensure necessary notifications have been communicated and compliance with related laws.”

Tim and Anthony tell NEWS10 Reporter, James De La Fuente, thankfully they were able to find more work just in time for the holidays “I don’t want to let too much time go by before, I don’t want to fall behind at all because of this. It’s nothing I did wrong. I did my best every day, you know?” said Willaims.

“I hope everything’s going the same for everyone else who is affected by this.  But at least in my line of work, it’s usually a pretty quick bounce back,” said Lawya.

Source

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)