COMPUTERS : Emulex to Relocate Circuit Production : Employment: Consolidating the unit’s operations in Puerto Rico will cut costs, but 60 face layoffs.

Citing a need to reduce costs, computer components maker Emulex Corp. said Thursday that it will dismiss 60 employees and move its circuit board manufacturing to its plant in Puerto Rico.

The layoffs, which are scheduled for July, represent about 7% of the company’s 850 employees. The company will keep its headquarters, mass-storage equipment manufacturing and about 540 employees in Costa Mesa.

“It’s an uneasy decision but it’s something we have to do,” said Ernie Hiltbruner, vice president of worldwide operations for Emulex. “We agonized over this for some time, and we are doing it to stay competitive.”

The company’s product development staff, corporate staff and manufacturing support people will remain in Costa Mesa. The dismissed employees will receive two months’ notice and “generous” severance packages, Hiltbruner said.

Emulex makes a line of mass-storage equipment for the Digital Equipment Corp. minicomputer market, as well as a line of products that link personal computers together electronically and other computer peripheral equipment.

The manufacturing change means Emulex will move to Puerto Rico its advanced surface mount technology--equipment used to mount computer chips onto electronic wiring boards--which it installed in its Costa Mesa plant in 1989.

Hiltbruner said that 80% of the company’s circuit board products are made in Puerto Rico now and that the transfer of the remainder overseas will eliminate some duplicated operations. He said the move would create “a few jobs” in Puerto Rico.

Last week, Emulex reported earnings of $2.2 million on revenue of $40.5 million for the quarter ended March 31, contrasted with a $2.2-million loss on revenue of $30.5 million a year earlier.

Joanne Martz, spokeswoman for Emulex, said costs associated with the move would be recorded in the company’s fiscal fourth quarter ending June 30 and first quarter ending Sept. 30. She said the company expects to continue to produce higher earnings in those quarters.

Hiltbruner said the move was not related to a downturn in the company’s markets. He also said the cuts came from a desire to end duplication rather than in response to the high cost of doing business in Orange County--often cited by other troubled technology companies leaving the area.

The company’s stock price closed unchanged at $8.25 in over-the-counter trading on Thursday.