SiliconBeat

Add Intersil to a growing list of Silicon Valley companies reacting to the “current economic conditions” by laying off employees. The Milpitas chip maker announced a nine percent reduction in its “global workforce” — that translates into 140 people — as part of the steps its taking “to improve its competitive position”.

The company will offer severance pay and career transition services to those laid off and take a charge of $20 million to $23 million for the restructuring, which will include estimated “impairment charges” — an accounting measure that won’t cost any cash — and other “related costs.”

We’ll see just how that restructuring charge breaks down and how much goes to those let go. And it will be interesting to see exactly how “global” the layoffs are, or whether they are mostly in this country.

The news follows a report last week about global chip sales in September that showed the smallest year-over-year gain this year. “We face a near-term period of uncertainty with a steep decline in consumer confidence and caution in the enterprise segment,” said Semiconductor Industry Association President George Scalise in a statement included in the September sales news.