Soitec achieves the targets of its job management plan: To reduce its workforce without redundancy and ensure professional skills remain in the Grenoble region
BERNIN, France, 29th September 2009 — Soitec (Euronext Paris), the world’s leading supplier of engineered substrates for microelectronics, today announced that the Group concluded its job management plan at the end of August in line with its targets: early implementation to adapt the employment structure to short and medium term requirements, no redundancies whilst ensuring certain skills remain in the Grenoble region in preparation for the end of the recession.
The plan was carried out in a few months, from the start of initial negotiations in March to the end of July, when most people left the company. Faced with the economic crisis and a sharp fall in demand early 2009, Soitec was able to react fast and in an appropriate manner, to ensure that the Group is able to profit from an upturn in activity.
Two measures were proposed to employees:
- An agreement to second staff within the Minalogic Competitiveness Cluster in Grenoble.
By early October, this agreement will be effective for about twenty Soitec employees.
This innovative measure was launched by the Grenoble Cluster under the December 2006 law on career security. It covers all categories of employees: manufacturing operators, engineers and technicians. It is anticipated that these employees will return to Soitec in January 2011.
This agreement will allow the Grenoble region to retain skills connected with the microelectronic industry. The receiving organisation will thus benefit immediately from the experience and expertise of these qualified employees. In addition these employees have the opportunity to enlarge their experience in a new environment within their professional domain.
- Incentives to encourage voluntary departures.
More than 70 employees have taken advantage of this company assistance to embark on a new project whether professional or personal. 50% have either acquired or started their own business, 30% have joined other companies, and 20% have opted for career training. Out of the entrepreneurial projects some fifteen are within the individual’s primary skill set or in a related technical area.
These results show that the incentives proposed were in line with employee expectations, adapted to professional qualifications and bear witness to the entrepreneurial spirit engendered within Soitec.
“We are most satisfied with the results of this plan. A challenge that was quickly and effectively carried out. We made a conscious effort to consider all employees’ aspirations in managing this short and medium term plan. The measures put in place are in line with Soitec’s ongoing objective to meet the respective interests of employees, customers, partners and shareholders: maintaining its ability to react timely to the upturn and pursuing its strategy dedicated to the innovation and industrialization of advanced materials”, stated Corinne Margot, Soitec Group’s Vice President, Human Resources.
About Soitec:
Soitec is the world's leading supplier of engineered substrates for advanced microelectronics. The Group produces a wide range of advanced materials, especially silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers based on its Smart Cut™ technology—the first high-volume application for this proprietary technology. SOI is currently seen as the platform of the future, paving the way to higher-performance, faster, and more economical chips.
Soitec currently produces over 80% of SOI wafers. Headquartered at Bernin in France, with two high-volume production units on site, Soitec also has offices in the US, Japan, and Taiwan, and a new production site is in the process of customers qualification in Singapore.
The Group has two other divisions: Picogiga International at Les Ulis in Paris and Tracit Technologies in Bernin. Picogiga is specialized in the development and manufacture of engineered substrates, from group III-V epitaxial semiconductor wafers and gallium nitride (GaN) wafers to composite substrates for the manufacture of high-frequency electronics and optoelectronic devices. Tracit is specialized in thin-film layer transfer technologies, used to manufacture engineered substrates for power ICs and microsystems, as well as generic circuit transfer technology for applications such as image sensors and 3D integration. Shares for the Soitec Group are listed on Euronext Paris. More information is available at www.soitec.com
Soitec, Smart Cut, and UNIBOND are trademarks of S.O.I.TEC Silicon On Insulator Technologies.
For all information, please contact:
H&B Communication
Marie-Caroline Saro - Tél. 01 58 18 32 44 / 06 70 45 74 37 - mc.saro@hbcommunication.fr
Claire Flin – Tél. 01 58 18 32 53 / 06 82 92 94 47 – c.flin@hbcommunication.fr