Datum to Lay Off 50 Workers

Citing a backlog of inventory in their warehouses and uncertainties about short-term demand for cellular telephones, Datum Inc. said it will lay off about 50 of the 450 workers at the company’s Irvine plant. “They have been notified, and they will be going tomorrow,” said David A. Young, the company’s chief financial officer. Datum, which makes sophisticated timing devices and other wireless communications components, was hiring employees earlier this year as it increased production to meet the demand of several large orders. And by the end of the third quarter, the company said the product inventory had increased $2.8 million over the second quarter.