Micron institutes hiring freeze

BOISE — Computer chip-maker Micron Technology Inc. has instituted a hiring freeze, largely due to the falling price of memory chips.

On the company's Web site Wednesday, 253 job openings were listed in North America. But Micron will not be filling open positions until it completes an assessment of its resources, spokesman Daniel Francisco said.

"At this time, we're assessing the resources we need to drive bottom line business growth, and that includes human resources," he said. "In light of the current market conditions, the company is not filling open positions until the assessment is completed."

Micron is Idaho's largest private employer, with about 11,000 workers in the Boise area. The company employs about 23,000 people worldwide.

Micron produces dynamic random-access memory, or DRAM, chips for personal computers.

With its partner Intel Corp., Micron also is spending $4 billion this year on building and equipping new plants to produce flash-memory chips for portable electronics. Their IM Flash Technologies joint venture has a main facility in Lehi that will use 60 percent of the 2.3 million square feet available at the former Micron plant there. Currently, the company has about 1,200 employees in Lehi, but it has said it expects to have a full work force of about 2,000.

Micron shares closed down 27 cents, or 2.3 percent, at a new 52-week low of $11.44 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. During the past year, they have traded as high as $18.65.