Things could quickly be going from bad to worse in the event you work for AMD or know someone that does. The struggling microprocessor company has reported a loss of $157 million ($0.21 per share) for the third quarter on revenue of $1.27 billion, good for a 10 percent drop since last quarter and 25 percent less year-over-year.

More troublesome, however, is the fact that 15 percent of AMD's workforce will soon find themselves without employment. Roughly 1,700 employees will be laid off through the fourth quarter as part of a just-announced restructuring plan.

It's not as bad as the 20-30 percent estimates that were circulating via rumor mill earlier this week, but it's a substantial reduction nevertheless. The cuts are in addition to the 1,400 employees that were let go in November 2011. 

Former Lenovo chief and current AMD CEO Rory Read said in a statement issued alongside the earnings report that the PC industry is going through a period of very significant change that is affecting the ecosystem and AMD. They were aware of trends that would reshape the industry but they are happening much faster than the company anticipated.

Moving forward, Read says AMD must accelerate their strategic initiatives to position the company to take advantage of these shifts. This includes installing a lower cost business model, simplifying product development cycles and reducing the breakeven point.

Specifically, Read said he believes AMD will need to move away from the PC industry and gravitate towards the embedded market. He hopes this sector will contribute around 20 percent of the company's total revenue by the fourth quarter of 2013.