Intel Corp is poised to announce plans this week to cut more than 20 percent of its staff, aiming to eliminate bureaucracy at the struggling chipmaker, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
The move is part of a bid to streamline management and rebuild an engineering-driven culture, according to the source, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private. It would be the first major restructuring under new chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武), who took the helm last month.
The cutbacks follow an effort last year to slash about 15,000 jobs — a round of layoffs announced in August. Intel had 108,900 employees at the end of last year, down from 124,800 the previous year.
Photo: Reuters
A representative for Intel declined to comment.
Tan is aiming to turn around the iconic chipmaker after years of Intel ceding ground to rivals. The Santa Clara, California-based company lost its technological edge and has struggled to catch up with Nvidia Corp in artificial intelligence computing. That contributed to three straight years of sales declines and mounting red ink.
Tan has vowed to spin off Intel assets that are not central to its mission and create more compelling products. Last week, the company agreed to sell a 51 percent stake in its programmable chips unit Altera Corp to Silver Lake Management LLC, a step toward that goal.
Intel needs to replace the engineering talent it has lost, improve its balance sheet and better attune manufacturing processes to the needs of potential customers, Tan said last month at the Intel Vision conference.
The company is scheduled to report first-quarter results today, giving Tan an opportunity to lay out more of his strategy.
Although the worst of Intel’s revenue declines are now behind it, according to Wall Street estimates, analysts are not projecting a return to its previous sales levels for years, if ever.
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