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The chipmaker recently confirmed it is considering job cuts, and has now reportedly offered up to 2,000 Irish workers three months of unpaid leave.
Intel has offered voluntary unpaid leave to a significant portion of its Irish staff in an effort to reduce costs.
Up to 2,000 Irish workers have been offered three months of unpaid leave as part of a “voluntary time off” option, the Business Post reports.
It is understood this offer is being made to many workers in Intel’s manufacturing business. The company employs roughly 5,000 people in Ireland, with a large number based at the company’s expanding Leixlip campus in Kildare.
An Intel spokesperson told the Business Post that this voluntary leave programme gives Intel an opportunity to “reduce short-term costs” while offering staff “attractive time-off options”.
“Manufacturing talent represents an important element of our business here in Ireland,” the spokesperson said.
In October, Intel confirmed it is considering job cuts globally in a broader attempt to reduce costs across its business.
The company has been facing a slump in global PC sales that has affected its business outlook. The chip giant posted a 20pc year-on-year drop in sales to $15.3bn in its latest quarter, and issued conservative profit and revenue forecasts for the rest of the year.
Lawsuits are also taking their toll on Intel, as the chip giant was recently ordered to pay nearly $950m in a patent infringement case.
In an earnings call at the end of October, CEO Pat Gelsinger said Intel was “aggressively addressing costs and driving efficiencies across the business” to position itself for the future.
These “aggressive” moves include $3bn in cost reductions in 2023, growing to up to $10bn in annualised cost reductions and efficiency gains by the end of 2025.
“We are planning for the economic uncertainty to persist into 2023,” Gelsinger said on the earnings call. “It’s just hard to see any points of good news on the horizon.”
Many tech companies have been looking at reducing their global workforces to cut costs in the current economy.
Last month, Irish start-up Wayflyer announced plans to lay off 200 of its staff worldwide, including 70 in Ireland. CEO and co-founder Aidan Corbett said the company had “tried to do too much, too soon”.
It came after Intercom confirmed that it is reducing its global workforce by 13pc, with 39 employees in Ireland at risk of being made redundant.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy also confirmed that mass layoffs are taking place within the company and will continue into 2023, and payments company Stripe said it was laying off 14pc of its staff in preparation for “leaner times”.
Meanwhile, Twitter made headlines for halving its headcount and Meta said it is letting go more than 11,000 employees, with both cuts impacting staff in Ireland. Salesforce is making cutbacks, but it is unclear how many of its 2,100 Irish staff may be affected.
These cuts came following layoffs at a host of other tech companies in recent months, including Shopify, Snap, Patreon, Twilio and more.
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