The Oregonian reported that chipmaker Intel plans to lay off up to 20% of its factory workforce, citing an internal email the publication says was verified by four employees. According to the report, Intel informed its employees that the cuts would begin taking effect in July and would impact factories worldwide.
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Intel reportedly employed about 109,000 workers at the end of 2024, but it remains unclear how many work in Intel Foundry, the company’s factory division. The unit’s roles range from factory floor technicians to specialized researchers.
Intel eliminated approximately 15,000 jobs last year through attrition, buyouts, early retirement offers and layoffs. However, according to The Oregonian, Chief Technology and Operations Officer Naga Chandrasekaran stated in the email that this round of job cuts will involve eliminating specific roles and levels, assessing skills for remaining positions and “some hard decisions around our project investments.”
Those projects include advancing its commercial semiconductor manufacturing and packaging projects in Oregon, New Mexico, Arizona, and Ohio as part of a plan to invest $100 billion in the U.S. However, the company recently postponed the opening of an Ohio factory, originally set to start operations this year. The company now plans to complete construction in 2030.
Intel expected to receive $7.86 billion from the U.S. Department of Commerce under President Joe Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act to help support the aforementioned projects. The Columbus Dispatch reported that, as of March, Intel has received $2.2 billion, with the remaining funding in question following Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s comments that President Donald Trump’s administration was renegotiating Biden’s grants.
Reports of the latest job cuts come after an April Bloomberg report indicated that Intel planned to cut over 20% of its workforce. Intel officials did not confirm the Bloomberg report, but CEO Lip-Bu Tan said the company’s strategy included streamlining the organization by eliminating management layers.
Shortly after the Bloomberg report, Tan sent a company-wide email criticizing some Intel teams for having eight or more layers of management. He also commented that the company is “seen as too slow, too complex and too set in our ways.”
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