Tandon Plans to Lay Off 175 More Workers

Cash-strapped Tandon said Friday that it will dismiss 175 workers in Chatsworth and Moorpark over the next six to eight weeks because it has shifted more of its personal computer and disk-drive manufacturing to Singapore.

The cutback is Tandon’s second major personnel reduction in six months. In early August, the Chatsworth-based company eliminated 225 jobs in San Jose by closing a disk-drive plant.

The new dismissals will leave Tandon with 2,100 workers worldwide and 200 in Southern California, down from 3,200 worldwide and 600 in the Southland last spring. Nearly all of Tandon’s disk drives, which are data storage devices, and most of its personal computers are now made in Singapore.

Tandon has been trying to raise working capital to continue its expansion into the personal computer market. Since November, the company has borrowed nearly $7 million from Foothill Capital in Los Angeles and converted a $4-million loan from Xerox to a three-year note convertible into stock.

Ranjit Sitlani, Tandon’s executive vice president, said the company’s cash squeeze is making it difficult to meet the demand for its products.

Tandon lost $62.8 million in the fiscal year ended Sept. 28 on revenue that fell 20% to $214.1 million.