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I understood that Intel's and layoff handling was quite good and the severance terms were actually pretty generous and likely well above the average for US companies (and certainly nothing like some of the awful stuff I've heard about IBM). Happy to be corrected if I'm wrong there. But that might actually qualify Intel as a "good workplace" given that most tech companies do go through layoff phases. Credit where it's due here.
In general I'm not against layoffs. This is one of the essential mechanisms of the free market.
However Bob Swan was fired and Pat Gelsinger was hired as the CEO of Intel because Intel was on a dangerous trajectory. Then under Pat Gelsinger's leadership, Intel employee headcount increased from 110,600 (2020) to 130,700 (March 2024). This a whopping 20,000 net increase! While Pat Gelsinger keeps pointing out that Intel's cost is too high, his actions actually told us the other way. Did Intel senior leadership team and Pat Gelsinger make Intel a better place to work? Do they really know what they are doing?
We normally don't use the divorce package to judge the quality of a failed marriage. Can we use the layoff package to judge Intel workplace's quality and effectiveness?
Pretty clear in how the evaluate employees work, commitment or future value to the company.
There are a likely a few non Taiwanese that find this works for them but given the fact their salary in the US isn’t the same premium above similar work many locals can find they will for the most part see much higher attrition. Manufacturing chips is hard, unforgiving, precision beyond belief, and tedious and high pressure. It’s no wonder few can be successful at it and none in the west.
How they measured commitment and good work was / is foreign and is it successful yes, is it the only way not necessarily but it’s the TSMC.
If you probe deeper even among the Taiwanese few love the environment but if you look at their compensation versus the alternatives nothing come close. Yeah you can be proud of the company and what your team and family accomplish but I feel sad for all the engineers families and spouses. Yeah they are money rich and vacation rich but the classical American dreams of dinners with your family, participate little league or soccer games or boss accepting you WFH after a doctors appt or because a plumber is coming are all strikes against against you or must give up.
Probe deeper and and it’s like for 10% pay difference is that worth the sacrifice for money and reward? For the Taiwanese it’s like 30% plus pay so for those willing to work in an army get paid and win at the cost of everything else a good trade off? Maybe they all send their kids to great overseas colleges and almost none every want their child to work at TSMC says it all about what it is like.
BTW it is absolutes true things said in the office and practices and verbal as wells as behavior can and should be considered discrimination and harassment and public verbal humiliation and none is stoppped
In some ways that's also like Amazon... most people who work there don't like it, but the pay is very good... at least 30% above market for most roles (and not even talking about the $300k+ roles for software engineers). So when Amazon tells everyone something like full RTO or leave, most people will suck it up and go full RTO.
People care a lot about the size of their paycheck... companies have learned if you pay someone 20-30% above market, you can treat them 100% worse, since most people will not want to take a 30% paycut under just about any circumstances.
