Harris Will Cut 2,300 Jobs, Restructure Chip Business

Harris Corp. said Monday that it will cut 2,300 jobs, or 8% of its work force, and restructure parts of its semiconductor business in the face of a persistent slump in the chip industry.

Melbourne, Fla.-based Harris, a maker of copiers, electronic imaging equipment and health-care information management products, said 1,900 of the job cuts will come in its unit that makes semiconductors for use in communications and power-management equipment and satellites. The company will take a pretax charge of $142 million in its fiscal fourth quarter ended July 3.

Harris shares fell 38 cents to close at $41.88 on the New York Stock Exchange. The company disclosed the news after the close of trading.

Separately Monday, Fairchild Semiconductor Corp., whose chips are the building blocks for electrical components in everything from toasters to cars, said it plans to fire about 200 U.S. employees because of the worldwide slowdown in the electronics industry.

Closely held Fairchild, spun off last year from National Semiconductor Corp., said it also plans cutbacks in contracted services in efforts to trim its payroll costs by 10%.

The South Portland, Maine-based company employs about 7,000 people worldwide.