Chipmaker Intel is considering a significant decrease in staff, probably in the thousands, in the face of a slowdown in the personal computer industry, Bloomberg News reported.
According to the article, the layoffs will be announced as early as this month, and some of Intel’s divisions, notably the sales and marketing business, may experience 20% personnel losses.
The corporation employed 113,700 employees in July, Bloomberg News said.
Intel declined to comment on the job layoffs.
After missing second-quarter earnings predictions, the business reduced its year sales and profit forecasts in July.
People are spending less on PCs than they did during pandemic-related lockdowns due to decades of high inflation and the reopening of workplaces and schools.
Chipmakers are also under pressure from Covid-19 restrictions in the critical PC sector. The crisis between China and Ukraine has caused supply-chain snarls and impacted on demand.
On Tuesday, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger sent a memo to company employees describing plans to create an internal foundry model for external clients and the business’s product lines.
A foundry business builds chips that other companies design and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing is the top player in that space.
So far, Intel has mostly built chips that it designed.
The firm is now investing €12 billion in the completion of its “Fab 34” factory in Leixlip, Co Kildare.
Intel will employ 6,500 people in Ireland once it is completed.