Intel Corp. is laying off more than 500 employees across four locations in Oregon as leadership looks to cut costs and simplify operations, according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filings dated July 7.
In a letter addressed to state and local officials, the chipmaker said the cuts will affect approximately 529 employees that work at or report to Intel campuses in Aloha and Hillsboro, Oregon.
“We are making these decisions based on careful consideration of what’s needed to position our business for the future, and we will treat people with care and respect as we complete this important work,” Intel said in an emailed statement Tuesday.
The changes will largely affect software and hardware engineers, developers and managers, as well as scientists and other specialists with backgrounds in artificial intelligence and cloud computing, according to a detailed list of affected jobs. The vast majority of cuts — about 450 — are happening at Intel’s Jones Farm Campus, which focuses on chip design work as well as research and development.
A spokesperson declined to elaborate on which departments or segments are being affected. Recently, the company said it will “wind down” the automotive business within its client computing group, The Oregonian/Oregon Live first reported.
The state is considered “the heart” of Intel’s R&D operations, according to Intel’s website, with more than 22,000 employees across four campuses. The Oregon operations make up Intel’s largest concentration of facilities and talent in the world.
“We are taking steps to become a leaner, faster and more efficient company,” Intel said on Tuesday. “Removing organizational complexity and empowering our engineers will enable us to better serve the needs of our customers and strengthen our execution.”
In addition to Jones Farm, the chipmaker’s cuts are also affecting dozens of employees at Intel’s Aloha, Hawthorne Farm and Ronler Acres campuses that support semiconductor research and manufacturing.
All affected employees have been or are being notified of layoffs between 30 and 60 days before their separations take effect, Intel said in its letter. They are set to receive nine weeks of pay and benefits, with the first wave of layoffs scheduled to begin on July 15. There is no union representing the affected employees.
Since taking over in March, CEO Lip-Bu Tan has expressed a need to rightsize Intel in the face of financial struggles and volatile market conditions. In a companywide letter in April, he said Intel is seen as “too slow, too complex and too set in our ways — and we need to change.”
Intel has repeatedly pushed back its $28 billion Ohio One project in New Albany, which broke ground in 2022. The project is now slated to be ready by 2030, at the earliest.
Tan said in his letter that many teams at Intel are “eight or more layers deep,” creating unnecessary bureaucracy that makes the company less competitive.
“There is no way around the fact that these critical changes will reduce the size of our workforce,” he wrote in April. “We will move as quickly as possible over the next several months.”
In addition to Oregon, Intel recently notified approximately 271 employees across Folsom and Santa Clara, California of layoffs, according to a state WARN filing. Those changes are also scheduled to take effect next week.
