US chipmaking equipment manufacturer Lam Research Corp will lay off around seven percent of its workforce, with around 1,300 employees set to lose their jobs.

Lam's move comes after a huge increase in staff during the pandemic, which saw semiconductor supplies constrained and a massive buildout of chipmaking fabs.

Last summer, the company reported having 17,700 employees - a 65 percent increase over two years prior.

The layoffs are in addition to 700 job losses amongst its "temporary workforce" in December.

Lam makes around half of its revenue from memory chip makers, which have been among the worst hit in the sector due to declining spending and a supply glut. Memory maker Micron announced its own significant layoffs late last year, but said that it hoped the market would normalize by the end of 2023.

California-based Lam said that it planned other cost savings beyond job cuts, but said that R&D costs would remain untouched.

"With these actions, Lam is focused on accelerating our strategic priorities to capitalize on the semiconductor industry's long-term growth prospects," CEO Tim Archer said.

Earlier this week, equipment maker ASML said that its customers expected demand to recover in the second half of 2023.