Seagate pulls plugs on Scottish semi plant

The semiconductor slump has claimed another victim, and Scottish inward investment has taken another knock, with the news that disk drive manufacturer Seagate is pulling-out of its Livingstone semiconductor manufacturing plant, putting 275 jobs under threat. Seagate has been losing money, and has come to the conclusion that semiconductors isn't a business it needs to be in. Livingstone manufacturers chips for use in Seagate hard drives that are built in the Far East, and in the current climate there's enough semiconductor capacity available for the company to buy in the chips from elsewhere. The decision to pull out reverses an expansion strategy the company announced at the beginning of this year. Livingstone was to have $40 million spent to upgrade it, and the workforce expanded to 375. Seagate does now however hope to sell the plant as a going concern, so immediate redundancies aren't on the cards. ® Click for more stories