Update, April 25, 2025: Intel has confirmed it is preparing layoffs that will begin in Q2 2025, but has not specified how many employees will be affected.
In an email sent to staff following the release of its Q1 2025 results yesterday, CEO Lip-Bu Tan said a reduction in workforce is needed to eliminate "organisational complexity" and "unnecessary bureaucracy".
"As we refocus on engineering, we will also remove organisational complexity," wrote Tan. "Many teams are eight or more layers deep, which creates unnecessary bureaucracy that slows us down."
"I'm a big believer in the philosophy that the best leaders get the most done with the fewest people. We will embrace this mindset across the company, which will include empowering our top talent to make decisions and take greater ownership of key priorities."
Tan continued: "There is no way around the fact that these critical changes will reduce the size of our workforce. We need to make some very hard decisions to put our company on a solid footing for the future.
"This will begin in Q2 and we will move as quickly as possible over the next several months."
"We are going to be very intentional about where we focus these efforts and how we stack up against the best in the industry. We have learned some valuable lessons from past actions. We must balance our reductions with the need to retain and recruit key talent. I will empower each of my leaders to make the best possible decisions aligned with our top priorities."
In addition to this news, Tan announced that Intel's current hybrid policy – which requires employees to spend three days a week in office – will be amended to four days a week by September 1, 2025.
"Adherence to this policy has been uneven at best," he wrote. "I strongly believe that our sites need to be vibrant hubs of collaboration."
"When we spend time together in person, it fosters more engaging and productive discussion and debate. It drives better and faster decision-making. And it strengthens our connection with colleagues."
Original story, April 24, 2025: Intel is reportedly set to announce another round of layoffs, this time cutting 20% of its workforce – estimated to be around 21,000 employees.
This is according to Bloomberg, with a source telling the publication that Intel is supposedly aiming to restructure the company to "eliminate bureaucracy" as well as "streamline management and rebuild an engineering-driven culture."
A representative for Intel declined to comment to Bloomberg on the matter.
The reported layoffs would take place under new CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who took over the role from interim CEOs David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus last month.
Former CEO Pat Gelsinger stepped down following his retirement in December 2024.
During Gelsinger's tenure, Intel laid off 15,000 employees in August 2024 as part of its $10 billion cost restructure plan revealed during its Q2 2024 financial results.
Gelsinger Intel was "making some of the most consequential changes [in] its history" as part of this decision.
"We must align our cost structure with our new operating model and fundamentally change the way we operate," he said. "Our revenues have not grown as expected – and we've yet to fully benefit from powerful trends, like AI. Our costs are too high, our margins are too low."
