Agilent Technologies, the world’s biggest manufacturer of testing equipment, is to eliminate thousands of jobs as part of a restructuring plan to cut costs by $450m (£249m).
Moves announced by the US-based company will reduce the headcount by about 9,400 – about one-third of its workforce, reports the Financial Times.
In addition to losing about 8,000 jobs through divestments, the paper states that a further 1,300 employees would be lost through transfers, attrition and workforce reduction.
Agilent will jettison several business lines, including its cash-intensive semiconductor unit, which has suffered from sharp cyclical swings.
The company’s shares closed up by 12% in New York following the announcement.
