SiliconBeat

As it did just about this time last year, Applied Micro Circuits told some of its employees today they had to go, according to a regulatory filing Monday, as the company enacted its sixth restructuring in four years. The move affects about 5 percent of its work force, which numbered 583 at the end of its last fiscal year on March 31, meaning that about 29 employees got pink slips today.

The company’s board of directors approved the plan back on Aug. 20 and says that it expects to incur cash charges of about $1 million for employee severance, which works out to about $34,000 per employee on average. But as we know, when it comes to matters of pay, averages usually hide the truth about who gets what.

On August 27 the company and Daryn Lau, a senior vice president for marketing and business development “reached agreement” on the termination of his employment. Lau, who received a $100,000 signing bonus when he joined the company in April 2005, was to receive “termination benefits” under the company’s Executive Severance Benefits Plan, which would have totaled six months of pay, or $137,500. He’ll also get eight months of accelerated vesting of his restricted stock.

Last year, the company issued a similar release in late September. In that move the company let go approximately 4 percent of its workers, or about 25 employees. It estimated the severance costs for those lay offs at about $750,000, which worked out to approximately 30,000 per employee.