The post-pandemic tech layoffs unfortunately continue as Intel has announced that it is reducing its workforce by the thousands.
In its Q2 2024 earnings report, the company confirmed that it plans to "reduce headcount by greater than 15% with the majority completed by the end of 2024." In a note to employees on Thursday, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger added that the company plans to cut around 15,000 roles as part of a plan to save $10 billion in 2025.
While acknowledging that it's "painful news" to share, Gelsinger added, "Simply put, we must align our cost structure with our new operating model and fundamentally change the way we operate."
"Our revenues have not grown as expected – and we’ve yet to fully benefit from powerful trends, like AI," he continued. "Our costs are too high, our margins are too low. We need bolder actions to address both – particularly given our financial results and outlook for the second half of 2024, which is tougher than previously expected."
He also wrote that next week, "we’ll announce a companywide enhanced retirement offering for eligible employees and broadly offer an application program for voluntary departures."
"These decisions have challenged me to my core, and this is the hardest thing I’ve done in my career," Gelsinger said. "My pledge to you is that we will prioritize a culture of honesty, transparency and respect in the weeks and months to come.
Rumors surfaced that Intel was facing another round of layoffs after Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that the company was laying off staff.
The last time Intel had layoffs post-COVID-19 pandemic was in October 2022, when the company announced it was reducing its workforce by 5%. Both layoff rounds come as Intel tries to bounce back in the market. In April, Reuters reported that Intel's chip-making division lost $7 billion in 2023 alone while making $18.9 billion in revenue in the same year.
Of course, Intel is not the only one in the technology sector making layoffs within the industry, as other tech companies have announced mass layoffs and hiring freezes in the last several years, especially in 2024. Additional examples include Unity cutting 25% of its workforce, Discord announcing a 17% reduction in headcount, Microsoft laying off people in its HoloLens and Azure cloud teams, and Google confirming that it was making job cuts to its hardware, core engineering, and Google Assistant divisions.
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
