ACT Cuts 48 in Anaheim in New Round of Layoffs

In its third major staff reduction since November, Applied Circuit Technology Inc. said Tuesday that it has laid off 40% of the employees in its struggling computer test equipment division’s facility in Anaheim.

The layoff affected 48 workers in ACT’s systems division, reducing the work force there to about 70, a spokesman for the Anaheim company said.

ACT laid off 40 workers at its Anaheim and Fremont test equipment plants in January after reducing the work week of about two dozen employees to 32 hours last November.

In a related announcement Tuesday, ACT said that Jose Elaydo has been named president of the systems division, replacing Sam Auriemma, who was named corporate vice president and chief financial officer.

Elaydo, who joined Applied Circuit Technology two years ago, has been vice president of international operations.

The company, which began as an electronics test equipment maker in 1976, lost $2.2 million in its fiscal 1984, an additional $401,153 in fiscal 1985 and has reported a $1.5-million loss for the first quarter of its 1986 fiscal year.

The losses have come largely because of the worldwide slump in personal computer sales. ACT’s equipment is used by manufacturers to test the disk drives for personal computers.

In the wake of Tuesday’s layoffs, ACT has about 300 employees remaining on its payroll, including about 150 at Whitworth.