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In a shock move, Optisolar has said that it is to cut 300 jobs – almost 50% - of its global workforce in an attempt to stem the effects of the company’s inability to access investment capital, according to the Sacramento Bee. The news follows hot on the heels of Tom Cheyney’s recent blog on this site that highlighted a slight discrepancy in numbers with the company’s capacity projections, but that ended on a positive note with expectations for the company’s upcoming year looking good.
The 300 cuts include 105 of the 175 people employed at the company’s McClellan Park plant, but the news report stated that a small assembly line at the site that is producing solar panels for OptiSolar’s Ontario, Canada site will not be affected by the cuts. The remaining 185 layoffs are from Optisolar’s Hayward, CA facility.
Alan Bernheimer, company spokesman, said that expansion of the McClellan plant is on hold until the second half of 2009 at the earliest, but that it is sorely needed in order to honour its commitments, such as the flagship project, a 10-square-mile array of solar panels proposed for San Luis Obispo County.
