Agilent to lay off about 75

Agilent Technologies Inc. will layoff about a quarter of its Liberty Lake workforce over the next year, executives announced Thursday.

The roughly 75 employees facing cuts have not been notified, but workers attended a series of meetings Thursday morning with management to review business plans calling for the staff reduction, said Fred Krassowski, human resources manager for the company’s Mobile Broadband Division. The planned cuts, affecting the unit that develops equipment to test cell phones, resulted from a “deep-dive review” of the company’s portfolio and market conditions, he said.

“This was not a long-term plan,” he said. “It has come out of some very specific business analysis where we conclude today that we are not structured such that we can be successful without this reduction.”

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Agilent develops and makes equipment for scientific measurement and life science and chemical analysis. It employs about 230 members of the division in Liberty Lake, the division’s headquarters.

A series of layoffs, including the closing of a circuit board assembly unit, have reduced Agilent’s local headcount to 300. The company employed about 1,100 locally in 2001.

Specific employees slated to lose their jobs will be notified June 18 after the company finishes plans for restructuring, Krassowski said.

“While difficult, it is the appropriate decision, but that in no way minimizes the potential personal impact on employees, and I think that is foremost in everyone’s mind at this point,” he said.

Positions scheduled for downsizing range from assistants to engineers and managers, Krassowski said. The Liberty Lake workforce is “highly experienced” and will generally receive a maximum severance benefit, he said.

Krassowski declined to give specifics about severance, but said they will be based on employees’ years of service. He characterized them as “highly competitive to other severance packages you would see in this industry,” saying packages will include assistance finding a new job, help with job-search expenses and money to help bridge medical coverage while employees find more work.

The downsizing will match the division’s organization structure with business needs over the next three years, Krassowski said. Consolidations among cell phone manufacturers and providers, particularly in developing countries, and a smaller customer base contributed to the need for cuts, he said. Major customers also face financial pressure and are making smaller investments as they adapt to faster technology lifecycles.

“The fundamental end markets are restructuring as we go through these technology changes,” Krassowski said.

Agilent also on Thursday announced it finished buying La Jolla, Calif.-based Stratagene Corp., a maker of scientific devices, for $250 million. As a result, the company increased its third-quarter revenue forecast from $1.38 billion to $1.42 billion.

Agilent started in Spokane County in 1979 as part of Hewlett-Packard. Agilent became a stand-alone company in 2000. Worldwide, Agilent employs about 19,000. It posted revenues of roughly $5 billion last year.Some employees could be reassigned within the company, Krassowski said.

While the number of employees to be cut is “significant,” this is a good time to be looking for a job, said Jeff Zahir, regional labor economist for the state. As of April, Spokane County had an unemployment rate of 4.3 percent, Zahir said.

Traded on the New York Stock Exchange, Agilent stock closed Thursday at $37.26, down 2.9 percent.

Staff writer Parker Howell may be reached at (509) 459-5491 or by e-mail at parkerh@spokesman.com.