AMD employees outside North America will also see pay cuts consistent with local policies and regulations, AMD said.

Also suspended are matching contributions for U.S. employees' 401k retirement investment funds. For Canadian workers, AMD will delay implementing the Registered Retirement Savings Plans matching program.

The changes will help AMD protect its ability to follow through on its technology roadmap, according to a statement. Krym said the cutbacks are "nothing highly unusual right now in the industry."

AMD has undertaken several restructuring measures combined with layoffs in order to stay competitive in the chip market, which is dominated by rival Intel.

In October, AMD said it would split into two companies, one that will design chips and one that will make chips. Analysts said the move would allow AMD to concentrate on product design rather than manufacturing and could help it compete better with Intel.