In an effort to weather the weak sales amid difficult macroeconomic conditions around the world, chipmaker Intel has started making layoffs and is also providing thousands of industrial workers with three months of unpaid leave worldwide.
According to CRN, the corporation began their anticipated layoffs in California with at least 201 workers as "part of a bigger cost-cutting initiative."
The layoffs are scheduled to begin from January 31, the report said, adding that according to the "Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications", 111 employees will be laid off at Intel's Folsom, California location while "90 employees will be asked to go from Santa Clara location, where the company is headquartered".
By the end of 2025, Intel expects to save between $8 billion and $10 billion annually, with the majority of these reductions coming from "human costs" in the operations and sales areas, the company stated in October.
"Retaining our manufacturing talent is a key element of positioning Intel for long-term growth. Voluntary time off programmes allow us an opportunity to reduce short-term costs and offer employees attractive time off options," the company was quoted as saying in the report.
"Inclusive in our efforts will be steps to optimise our headcount. These are difficult decisions affecting our loyal Intel family, but we need to balance increased investment," the Intel CEO announced.
During the company's third-quarter results call in October, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger stated that the company is "responding to the current environment by taking aggressive efforts to decrease costs."
According to earlier reports, the chip manufacturer is preparing to lay off thousands of workers, primarily from its sales and marketing departments, as consumer PC sales fall precipitously around the world.
Companies like Meta, Twitter, Salesforce, Netflix, Cisco, Roku, and others have been in the forefront of large-scale job layoffs. At least 853 computer businesses worldwide have fired nearly 137,492 workers as a result of the global financial crisis, and the number is steadily rising amid concerns about a coming recession.
