Intel to Issue 5,000 Pink Slips, Close Manufacturing Plants

[btarunr]

Intel seems to have finally taken its economic future seriously in wake of the company anticipating a red quarter, which is the first in 22 years. This announcement comes following CEO Paul Otellini's statements pointing towards the company seeing red in Q1 2009, this merely a month into the quarter. In the latest statement issued, the company pointed out that around 5,000 of its employees (around 6,000 when combined with associated support functions) will be affected as part of the company's workforce reduction plans. The employees are from across various positions and divisions of the company.

Additionally, terming it as corporate restructuring, Intel will cease operations in as many as four facilities at: Santa Clara in California, Hillsboro in Oregon, Penang in Malaysia and Cavite in Philippines. The company attributes this to severe drops in profits. For example, Intel's least week's earnings saw a 90 percent drop in profits from the same point in 2008. Craig Berger of FBR Capital Markets was among several analysts Wednesday who said he wouldn't be surprised if Intel falls in red this quarter. "We have seen pretty significant deterioration in demand" for computer chips, he said, though he added that no one , including probably Intel's top executives, can predict where the company is heading in the coming months, due to a great deal of uncertainty with the world economy. If Intel does suffer a loss this quarter, it's still in a lot better shape than most other chip makers and should have no trouble surviving the recession, said Nathan Brookwood, a research fellow at the Saratoga market consulting firm Insight 64. "If Intel can't do OK in the longer term," he said, "then the United States economy and the world economy are in one heck of a lot of trouble."

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[Laurijan]

That came as a big surprise to me

 

[jbunch07]

Not to me...the economy is in really bad shape right now.

 

[DonInKansas]

The high and mighty Intel are affected by the economic crisis? OH NOES!



Tough times for everybody. Glad I'm in a job where I can't be laid off.

 

[PCpraiser100]

Wow, what did I tell ya?

 

[wolf2009]

The high and mighty Intel are affected by the economic crisis? OH NOES!



Tough times for everybody. Glad I'm in a job where I can't be laid off.

what is that ?

 

[Duxx]

what is that ?

Government work!! hah

 

[Binge]

what is that ?

Official loiterer.

 

[hat]

Yeah, and it's because nobody has the leet cash to fork out for a brand new core i7 system and ddr3, and probably a new power supply on top of that. Maybe it's time for AMD to prosper with thier cheap, energy efficient chips.

 

[DonInKansas]

Government work!! hah

Yup. I work for a small county that only keeps enough people employed to keep the doors open. Law enforcement never shuts its doors.

 

[wolf2009]

Yup. I work for a small county that only keeps enough people employed to keep the doors open. Law enforcement never shuts its doors.

lol , but don't they have layoffs to get in budget ?

 

[tkpenalty]

Intel doesn't seem to understand that the majority of the market cant afford to fork out a several hundred bucks just for a CPU-thats an outdated way of thinking. Where most consumers (not us) aim for is the sub-$100 products and may explain their "losses".

Intel's shares aren't doing well atm.

 

[kid41212003]

It's not like they don't have sub -$100 processors.

People can't afford it because they can't, not because of any other reasons.
If you don't have money to make an upgrade, you can't upgrade, even if the price is lower, because you don't HAVE money.

 

[eidairaman1]

see i knew they weren't doing well either.

 

[mdm-adph]

Well, maybe the market will be more equalized in the end because of this -- Intel closes plants, AMD opens a new one (soon).

 

[thoughtdisorder]

Unfortunately this is sign a of the times. Whether it's Intel, AMD, or any company, I hate to hear about people losing their jobs. That's 5,000 families that are going to embark on some hard times going forward.

 

[Laurijan]

The economy here in Finland sucks too.. nokia is firing people and losing market shares.. people are getting fired here big time every week.. i have been unemployed for over 4 years and unable to find a job where i could work with PCs

 

[mikek75]

4 years???? Ever thought to do something which doesn't involve PC's....

 

[Laurijan]

4 years???? Ever thought to do something which doesn't involve PC's....

I cant educate myself here in finland cause i cant write finnish and no english school takes me because my grades i made in austria arent recognized here.. i am not lazy or something i work for 12€ a day 3 days a week as it assistant to do at least something and they did empoy me which was a big disapointment.. but lets stay at the topic

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Electronics took the hit slower than other markets did. Electronics actually did exceptional well over the holidays given the economic climate. The problem is, businesses that sell computers are no longer placing orders for new products--they are trimming their inventory in hopes that they won't have a lot of merchandise they can't move. That's what really hurt Intel. Don't think for a second that AMD and other component manufacturers are immune because they most certainly are not. They just might have a lengthier delayed onset, as it were.

 

[DonInKansas]

lol , but don't they have layoffs to get in budget ?

They can't lay anyone off. We don't have enough people in our department. We run with 5 total dispatchers to cover all the shifts, and of course, we're open 24/7. If they dumped one of us, there'd be some grouchy people working a lot of overtime...

 

[ChiSox]

I think whats crazy is that they are almost running themselves out of a job. When a E8400 is gonna be able to run almost anything for the next 5-8 years they are killing themselves. AMD was smart by investing in ATI since everything is becoming GPU intense(for gamers) And whats the one thing that doesnt come with an OEM rig at BB or Staples or Office Max, a GPU. So hats off to AMD for thinking ahead of the game and ATI making some advances is GPU's(although I use Nvidia on my main rig haha)

But it does suck for everyone losing their jobs, you gotta be self reliant these days anyways. Who wants to have a boss that uses you're ideas and runs as their own. Then prevents you from obtaining any higher level position in fear of their job being lost.