Intel said that it would lay off 15% of employees — an estimated 15,000-17,000, they announced in August.
Most of the cuts would be in the form of voluntary retirement and non-replacement of employees who have left, with the balance from layoffs.
Now, Intel’s downsizing is moving up a gear. After the voluntary retirement stage, which allowed Intel employees to leave and receive a bonus of up to 19 salaries, the US chip giant has moved on to the next stage.
Intel layoffs
According to reports in the US, Intel began dismissing more than 2,255 employees in Oregon, Arizona, Texas, and California last Tuesday. In Israel, the dismissals are set to begin after the holidays and will likely include several hundred employees out of the 11,000 employees in Haifa, Petah Tikva, Jerusalem, and Kiryat Gat.
According to the CRN website, most of the US layoffs, about 1,300 employees, are being dismissed at the development and production site in Oregon. There were 385 layoffs in Chandler, Arizona, 319 in San Jose, California, and 251 in Austin, Texas.
The dismissals were implemented with 30 days' notice due to the country’s labor laws requiring advance notice when mass layoffs are involved.
According to reports in the US, 7,500 people had already signed up for voluntary retirement plans as of the beginning of October, which would mean layoffs of at least 7,500 employees between mid-October and mid-November.