STMicroelectronics intends to rid itself of six per cent of its workforce - some 2500 staff in total - this year, although only 650 of them will be fired. The rest will go through voluntary redundancy schemes, the company has said in an email sent to the Bloomberg newswire.

The announcement follows a report in the La Tribune newspaper that the chip company planned to dismiss all 2500. No so, said STMicro, almost all will go - those that haven't gone already; many of the 2500 have, apparently - through natural attrition.

The cuts have been made to bring STMicro's costs down in the light of the global semiconductor slump. The company has already implemented a pay freeze. ®