SiliconBeat

Silicon Image is implementing its third layoff in a year, according to a filing today with the SEC in which the Sunnyvale chip maker disclosed its decision last Friday to get rid of about 80 employees, or 13 percent of the 610 employees it reported having at the end of 2008.

The move is expected to cost the company between $7-$9 million in cash payments related to employee severance, considerably more than the $4.6 million the company spent on such charges over the course of restructurings in announced in both its third and fourth quarter of 2008 that were described in the company’s annual 10-K financial report as being part of the company’s “program to pursue continuous improvement.”

The company — whose chips and technology are used to distribute, secure and store high-definition content — used up $15.5 million of its cash operating during its 2009 first quarter when sales dropped 40 percent from the year-before quarter to $40.5 million.

In its filing today Silicon Image  said it announced its most recent restructuring Friday, but we couldn’t find any release covering the news on its Web site.