Coherent cuts more than 100 Bay Area jobs as tech layoffs worsen

Coherent will eliminate more than 100 jobs in the Bay Area in a restructuring triggered by weakening demand.

FREMONT — Coherent will eliminate more than 100 jobs in the Bay Area in a restructuring that points to widening layoffs in the tech sector.

The maker of high-tech lasers, optical gear and other equipment said it is cutting the jobs in Fremont, the company stated in an official filing with the state Employment Development Department.

Coherent will chop 108 jobs at the location of its Finisar subsidiary on Christy Street in Fremont, the WARN notice with the EDD shows.

The tech company blamed weakening business conditions for the job cuts, according to the WARN notice.

“This action is necessary due to a fall in business demand, which prompted a restructuring of operations with a focus on reducing business costs,” Shirley Reha, chief human resources officer with Coherent, wrote in the WARN letter.

With the most recent rounds of job cuts — which include 55 more Salesforce layoffs in San Francisco — tech and biotech companies have since mid-2022 revealed plans to eliminate more than 23,000 jobs in the Bay Area. Some of the layoffs have occurred and some have yet to transpire.

The Coherent employees who are affected by the job terminations were all notified this week, the company said.

The job cuts are expected to occur on May 15 of this year, the company stated in the state labor filing.

“We expect your layoff to be permanent,” Coherent said in a letter to the affected workers. “There are no bumping rights.”