Bangalore: Texas Instruments (TI), the semiconductor giant which identified India's technology prowess long before others and set up a development centre in Bangalore in the 1980s, is axing as much as one third of its workforce in the country as part of its cost-reduction global restructuring, aligning to company’s shift from the mobile market.

Currently, the U.S. chip designer employees around 1500 employees in India, out of which 500 are expected to be laid off, and a considerable number to be ‘re-deployed’ to other divisions. However, there is no official word on the number of layoffs or severance package.

The company had earlier announced its plans to cut 5 percent of global workforce, reducing its focus on manufacturing mobile phone chips and rather focus more on profitable areas such as embedded systems. With the restructuring, TI hopes annual savings of about $450 million by the end of 2013. Currently, it is the third largest manufacturer of semiconductors and second largest supplier of processors for mobile phones worldwide, with around $14 billion in revenues. The company is expected to announce its Q4 mid-quarter financial update on December 10.

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It’s the first time since its Indian inception in 1985, TI is laying off employees. The chip giant was the first MNC to install a satellite dish in the country for round-the-clock communication link with US offices that helped software exports. Also with setting up country’s first software design centre in Bangalore, TI played a main role in pioneering India’s IT revolution 25 years ago.

According to the Economic Times, the layoffs mark another chapter in the company's history and also the story of India's IT industry.

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