Indian-origin CEO-led energy tech firm Enphase lays off 350 workers

San Francisco, Dec 25 (IANS) American energy technology company Enphase, led by Indian-origin Badri Kothandaraman, is laying off 10 per cent of its global workforce, impacting approximately 350 contractors and employees.

According to Enphase President and CEO Kothandaraman, the move is to streamline operations by ceasing contract manufacturing operations in two locations in the US and resizing other contract manufacturing sites.

“We have decided to reduce our global workforce by approximately 10 per cent, impacting approximately 350 contractors and employees. In addition, we will continue our hiring and travel freeze through 2024 and cut discretionary spending on several other fronts,” he said in a message to employees.

Kothandaraman took full accountability for the decision.

“I understand this is difficult for all of us, especially when it impacts our valued colleagues and friends who are departing. We will treat our departing colleagues with the utmost respect and empathy, provide them with severance packages, engage in consultation where required, and support them with their transitions,” he wrote.

Headquartered in Fremont, California, Enphase develops and manufactures solar micro-inverters, battery energy storage, and EV charging stations primarily for residential customers.

The company has shipped more than 48 million microinverters to 2.5 million solar systems in more than 140 countries.

Kothandaraman said that over the last 12 months, the solar market has seen a lot of turbulence worldwide.

In the US, high interest rates have caused a significant drop in consumer demand, while “California's NEM 3.0 transition continues to create further uncertainty”.

“These challenges have caused our topline revenue to decrease. In response, we must right-size the company and get our non-GAAP operating expenses to be within a range of $75 million to $80 million per quarter in 2024,” said the CEO.

The company’s worldwide micro-inverter contract manufacturing operations currently have a combined capacity of approximately 10 million units per quarter.

“We are planning to reduce that capacity to approximately 7.25 million units per quarter to be closer aligned to the expected demand. To that end, we are ceasing operations at our contract manufacturing locations in Timisoara, Romania and Wisconsin, United States, and resizing our other contract manufacturing sites,” Kothandaraman announced.