Intel to Reduce Workforce to 75,000 “Core Employees”

Gotcha. Here we go—brace yourself.

Okay, let’s dive into this swirling mess of what’s up with Intel lately. It’s kind of, well, all over the place. Not too long ago, Intel—y’know, the bigwig of chips—decided to start trimming down its workforce pretty drastically. I mean, last month they threw out this plan to lay off thousands in the US because they were chasing this AI dream. Maybe dream isn’t even the right word. Fantasy? Who knows.

And today, during their Q2 earnings reveal (how fancy does that sound?), they let slip a doozy. They’re cutting their workforce to about 75,000 “core” employees. The Verge did some number crunching—thank goodness for them because I can barely do math without a calculator—and figured out that means roughly 24,000 folks might be out of a job soon. That’s like an entire small town just up and vanishing. Buckle up, right?

Meanwhile, in their grand plan for a worldwide shrink-fest, Intel’s bailing on those big chip factories they wanted to sprout in Germany and Poland. Would’ve been great for jobs, but nope, not happening anymore. Kind of feels like a letdown, honestly.

But hey, it’s not all gloom and doom. Well, mostly. There’s something about Costa Rica. Intel’s still got some assembly line stuff ticking over there, but they’re eyeing Vietnam for more action. Big changes, less sunburns, I guess. Oh, but don’t stress too much if you’re in Costa Rica—they’re not shutting shop completely, just shaking things up a bit.

Now, David Zinsner, the CFO, chimed in with ominous vibes regarding Ohio. Says they’re gonna slow down construction there to “align spending with demand.” Whatever that means. Translation: they want to save money and not build a ghost town.

By these plans, they’re eyeing a $17 billion cut in spending next year. Impressive… if it wasn’t saving money off people’s backs. And yep, despite all this, more red ink is expected in this quarter’s balance sheets. Ouch.

As for when this whole saga wraps up with more pink slips—beats me. No one’s dropping those breadcrumbs quite yet.

Switching gears, let’s chew on Intel’s sketchy past. It’s been a rough ride. Used to be kings of PC chips back in the neon-filled 80s and 90s. Then they got cozy, lazy perhaps. Didn’t hop on the mobile chips or AI bandwagon like their cool rivals—Apple, AMD, NVIDIA, and Qualcomm. Now they’re paying chase and burning through cash faster than I can say “Silicon Valley.”

2023 was a red flag year, reporting a jaw-dropping $7 billion in losses. This after dropping $5.2 billion the previous year—thanks for the heads up, TechWire. Oh, and about those AI chips—Intel’s Core Ultra Series 1 flopped, like really bad, compared to the competition. They rushed out Series 2 the same year. Talk about a panic move.

Then there was this big hullabaloo with TSMC. Intel’s ex-CEO, Pat Gelsinger, kinda ruffled feathers by saying Taiwan wasn’t stable. TSMC didn’t take kindly to that, canceled their sweet deal with Intel—goodbye 40% discount on wafers. More costs, more woes.

On a way-too-personal note, I’ve noticed more AMD chips in PCs lately. Maybe it’s just me, or maybe there’s a shift in the winds.

So, where’s Intel headed now? They’ve got their fingers crossed on new launches—Panther Lake and Nova Lake chips. All hopes are pinned there as they scramble to stay afloat and maybe even break even someday. More layoffs? More surprise pulls? Only time will tell in this roller-coaster saga. Stay tuned, I guess.