Editor's Page

My two yens' worth

The year's coming to an end, and none too soon in the beleaguered semiconductor and semiconductor equipment and materials industries. Analysis and commentary of the ongoing economic downturn have continued nonstop, with everyone and her analyst piping in with their two yens' worth. If you've read this page over the course of the year, you've seen that I too jumped into this fray, hoping to add a few fuzzy grains of wisdom and levity. And I'm not quite done yet.

In lean times, companies restructure, and the terminology of restructuring is awash with corporate-speak. On announcing yet another quarter of dismal financial results, company execs offer up boilerplate remarks about "improving operational efficiencies," "aligning cost structure with prevailing market conditions," and "advancing our technical roadmaps." One of the most egregious corruptions of the mother tongue is the growing use of the term headcount reduction. Reminiscent of Vietnam War—era military euphemisms like collateral damage, acceptable losses, and pacification, headcount reduction dehumanizes the people who have lost their jobs. Raiding the military lexicon again, perhaps we should substitute a new term—friendly firings.

Despite the layoffs of thousands of microelectronics employees, some Silicon Valley companies are in a hiring mode. During a just-completed trip north, I was told by executives at Kobe Precision and at AlliedSignal's electronic materials wafer fabrication group that they were looking to add to their respective workforces. Kobe just expanded its silicon wafer reclaim facility in Hayward and will need to at least double its current staff of 70 when the new expansion comes on line early next year, according to Paul Miller, the company's wafer division vice president and general manager. Down the road in Sunnyvale, marketing director Dave Richter says Allied's low-k dielectric advanced integration facility is scheduled for completion in the spring. The new plant will include a wide-ranging process tool set that will require the addition of fresh engineering and technical talent.

Finally, I'd like to dedicate this issue to the memories of Roy Long and Demetrio Garibay, the two workers who died after exposure to a toxic vapor cloud released when a carbon-steel pipe ruptured Oct. 8 at Advanced Silicon Materials' polycrystalline silicon plant in Moses Lake, WA. The semiconductor industry is rightfully proud of its safety record, but this tragic accident reminds us all that there's still work to be done to protect employees from the hazards of fab life.

Tom Cheyney
Editor

tom.cheyney@cancom.com

P.S. To all of our readers and advertisers, have a happy and healthy holiday season.

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