Vitesse Suspends 401(k) Match

Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation, a provider of advanced IC solutions for Carrier and Enterprise networks, said it has suspended its 401(k) employer match contributions in an effort to reduce spending for 2009.

In the announcement of its first quarter fiscal year 2009 financial results, the company said other expense reduction measures include salary reductions for executives and other employees and forgoing of annual merit increases. The actions are expected to reduce wage and benefit expenses “significantly” by the third fiscal quarter, the announcement said.

The company said it expects to reduce overall operating expenses “to support the goal of achieving cash flow neutrality for the fiscal year.’

“We expect 2009 to be a challenging year for the industry. Accordingly, we have taken aggressive actions to continue to reduce operating expenses,’ said Chris Gardner, chief executive officer of Vitesse, in the announcement.

Vitesse was one of a number of companies involved in the stock options backdating scandal that began in 2005 (see “Stock Option Probe Biggest Since Abusive Fund Trading Cases).

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