RF Micro Devices to lay off 150

By DONALD W. PATTERSON
Staff Writer

RF Micro's headquarters in Greensboro.

GREENSBORO - RF Micro Devices will lay off approximately 150 workers in the first quarter of next year, a company official said Friday.

Jerry Neal, executive vice president for strategic development and a cofounder of the company, said RFMD would idle one of its wafer-making facilities at 7628 Thorndike Road.

"We are not shutting it down," Neal said. "We will be able to bring it back up when demand from our customers comes back. No one knows how long that will be."

Neal said the production will be moved to another fabrication unit at the site.

The company, which makes a specialized type of microchip for cellular phones and other high-performance radio system, announced the termination of about 280 employes in Greensboro last spring.

Neal could not be specific about when the layoffs will begin.