Updated Intel has filed documents that reveal plans to fire around 5,000 staff, mostly in California and Oregon.
New CEO Lip-Bu Tan has warned Intel's in a bit of a bind - its x86 dominance is fading, the company is nowhere in GPU, and the plan to offer foundry services to other chip design companies hasn’t set the world on fire - so the layoffs are another step in its goal of cutting headcount by 20 percent and reducing costs.
News of the layoffs emerged in Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notices – filings that some states require when big businesses let go of staff.
WARN notices published in recent days show Intel plans nearly 2,000 layoffs in its Folsom and Santa Clara sites in California, plus around 2,500 workers from Hillsboro and Aloha in Oregon, as an outlet called Manufacturing Dive first reported.
Local media in Arizona have also reported layoffs there will rise from a previously planned 170 to nearly 700 people. Texan employees are also reportedly being told they’re surplus to requirements.
Meanwhile in Israel, where Intel has developed its Middle Eastern fabrication business, hundreds of people now apparently being let go.
"We are taking steps to become a leaner, faster and more efficient company," Intel reportedly said in an email July 9. "Removing organizational complexity and empowering our engineers will enable us to better serve the needs of our customers and strengthen our execution."
This latest round of layoffs means Intel has shed over 20,000 staff in a year after it announced 16,000 redundancies in August 2024.
Wall Street will be very happy with the move, as it has been in the past, but the latest cuts are hurting morale.
A current (for the moment) employee told The Register. "Everyone's wondering if they're going to be next," they said. "There's an air of gloom over the plant."
Our source told us the bulk of the cuts appear to be in non-core operations, such as HR, marketing, and other back office staff. Employees who work on hardware appear to have been spared but we’re told "Everyone's looking over their shoulders."
After coasting on its x86 dominance for decades, Intel’s rivals now possess superior design and manufacturing prowess.
After spending billions on share buybacks to support the stock price and fat dividends from shareholders rather than investing in new technology Intel is now finding itself in a bind. The US CHIPS legislation that was supposed to pump billions into the semiconductor industry to bring manufacturing back home is now in doubt, making it harder for the company to turn things around.
At least Intel is not alone in feeling some pain: AMD has also reduced headcount in recent months.
Intel has not responded to our request for clarification on the cuts. ®
"We are making these decisions based on careful consideration of what’s needed to position our business for the future, and we will treat people with care and respect as we complete this important work."
www.theregister.com
New CEO Lip-Bu Tan has warned Intel's in a bit of a bind - its x86 dominance is fading, the company is nowhere in GPU, and the plan to offer foundry services to other chip design companies hasn’t set the world on fire - so the layoffs are another step in its goal of cutting headcount by 20 percent and reducing costs.
News of the layoffs emerged in Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notices – filings that some states require when big businesses let go of staff.
WARN notices published in recent days show Intel plans nearly 2,000 layoffs in its Folsom and Santa Clara sites in California, plus around 2,500 workers from Hillsboro and Aloha in Oregon, as an outlet called Manufacturing Dive first reported.
Local media in Arizona have also reported layoffs there will rise from a previously planned 170 to nearly 700 people. Texan employees are also reportedly being told they’re surplus to requirements.
Meanwhile in Israel, where Intel has developed its Middle Eastern fabrication business, hundreds of people now apparently being let go.
"We are taking steps to become a leaner, faster and more efficient company," Intel reportedly said in an email July 9. "Removing organizational complexity and empowering our engineers will enable us to better serve the needs of our customers and strengthen our execution."
This latest round of layoffs means Intel has shed over 20,000 staff in a year after it announced 16,000 redundancies in August 2024.
Wall Street will be very happy with the move, as it has been in the past, but the latest cuts are hurting morale.
A current (for the moment) employee told The Register. "Everyone's wondering if they're going to be next," they said. "There's an air of gloom over the plant."
Our source told us the bulk of the cuts appear to be in non-core operations, such as HR, marketing, and other back office staff. Employees who work on hardware appear to have been spared but we’re told "Everyone's looking over their shoulders."
After coasting on its x86 dominance for decades, Intel’s rivals now possess superior design and manufacturing prowess.
After spending billions on share buybacks to support the stock price and fat dividends from shareholders rather than investing in new technology Intel is now finding itself in a bind. The US CHIPS legislation that was supposed to pump billions into the semiconductor industry to bring manufacturing back home is now in doubt, making it harder for the company to turn things around.
At least Intel is not alone in feeling some pain: AMD has also reduced headcount in recent months.
Intel has not responded to our request for clarification on the cuts. ®
Updated to add
"As we announced earlier this year, we are taking steps to become a leaner, faster and more efficient company. Removing organizational complexity and empowering our engineers will enable us to better serve the needs of our customers and strengthen our execution," a spokesperson told us about the layoffs, after the original story was published."We are making these decisions based on careful consideration of what’s needed to position our business for the future, and we will treat people with care and respect as we complete this important work."
Intel plans a further 5,000 layoffs
: Our sources tell us mostly back office staff were let go, and that the mood in the office is very pessimistic
www.theregister.com
