Agilent to layoff 600 more workers
Tech company has three Delaware sites
Agilent Technologies Inc., facing fewer orders for its scientific testing instruments, plans to cut another 600 workers after announcing a first round of layoffs in December.
Agilent spokesman Bob Lydum said it was unknown if the job cuts would affect employment at the company's three sites in Delaware, where it makes chemical testing equipment for corporations, crime labs, universities and environmental scientists.
The company, which employs about 700 in Delaware, announced its plans Tuesday as it said fiscal first-quarter earnings fell 47 percent from a year earlier.
Revenue was down 16 percent to $1.17 billion as the company "felt the full brunt of the severe, worldwide economic 
In December, Agilent said it would cut most employees' pay 10 percent and cut 500 full-time and 300 temporary positions. The company said at the time that employees at three Delaware sites would not be affected by the layoffs.
Agilent's Delaware operations are part of the company's bio-analytical measurement segment, which saw nearly three years of double-digit growth in orders come to an end in the first quarter as orders fell 2 percent from a year ago.
Customers suffering from the recession were less willing to spend on the big-ticket equipment, which can range in price from $30,000 to more than $200,000.
But the bio-analytical measurement segment saw operating income rise 16 percent to $101 million, the strongest performance among Agilent's three main businesses. Operating income for the electronic measurement segment plunged 90 percent to $7 million, and the semiconductor and board test segment swung from a $3 million profit last year to a loss of $13 million.
Lydum said the bio-analytical instruments are benefiting from the growing global
"At this point, that is our fastest growing market," Lydum said.
Previous PageContact Andrew Eder at 324-2789 or aeder@delawareonline.com.
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