BOISE -- In the wake of Thursday's announcement of job cuts at Micron, word today is that most of the 1,500 local layoffs will happen before Christmas.

The overall, companywide restructuring announced Thursday will take two years, but Micron is working to shut down a majority of its NAND flash manufacturing lines in Boise as soon as possible -- over the next month or two. 

That means most of the 1,500 Boise workers will be laid off by the end of the year.

This process begins with a one-week long voluntary program -- those who accept this option get an additional 6-weeks of pay, plus their severance packages.

After that, it moves to an undetermined number of involuntary layoffs.

"It’s tough for us to know exactly, as we try to work through this real time, how many people will decide they want to participate in the voluntary program as opposed to what we have to do in terms of a selection process after that period of time," said Micron CEO Steve Appleton.

In an effort to make way for the influx of people looking for new jobs, the Idaho Department of Labor is further extending its hours -- even more than they offered Thursday.

Starting this weekend, the Boise, Meridian and Canyon County offices will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays, and they'll keep their doors open three hours longer during the week -- until 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday evenings.

The extended hours will last 10 weeks and then the Labor Department will reassess if it needs to continue its expanded hours.

This in response to the increased demand from Micron workers and others being impacted by the economy.