Seagate Technology Will Lay Off 500 Workers

Seagate Technology Corp. will lay off 500 employees as the computer storage manufacturer absorbs former rival Conner Peripherals.

The layoffs result from redundancy between Seagate’s and Conner’s engineering and corporate staffs, said Seagate spokeswoman Julie Still. But employees could be hired back by the company, which has several hundred openings elsewhere, including 112 in Simi Valley, she said.

Seagate became the world’s largest independent maker of computer disk drives when it acquired San Jose-based Conner in February in a $1-billion stock swap.

Seagate produces high-end drives for mainframes, minicomputers, work stations and video editing systems. Conner was an early producer of 3 1/2-inch drives used in personal computers.

The combined companies currently employ 87,000 people.

Besides the Simi Valley job positions, Seagate has about 200 openings in Longmont, Colo. Nearly 200 additional jobs are expected to be available elsewhere in the company.