SiliconBeat

Nvidia said Thursday it plans to eliminate 360 positions worldwide, or about 6.5 percent of its workforce “to allow for continued investment in strategic growth areas.” The layoffs are expected to be completed by the end of its fiscal 2009 third quarter on Oct. 26, according to a regulatory filing late Thursday afternoon. The company expects to record restructuring-related expenses of about $7 million to $10 million.

Nvidia’s board also approved a proposal from its management “to reduce to zero In connection with, and contingent the workforce reduction, any individual variable cash payments that would be payable to” executive officers under the companies so-called fiscal 2009 Variable Compensation Plan.

Under that plan, the company’s chief executive reviews individual performance during the prior fiscal year of each of the other executive officers and recommends individual variable compensation payouts for each. (The board itself handles the CEOs payment). The variable payments are “designed to be a substantial portion of each executive’s total compensation annually and rewards executives for individual performance and for their role in helping Nvidia meet its annual financial goals.”

Cash payments made under the plan made to named executive last year ranged from $2.4 million for CEO Jen-Hsun Huang to $412,500 for the company’s general counsel, David Shannon, according to the company’s last proxy filed in May.