According to Globes, the current staff cuts at Intel in Israel were not only one of the largest, but also created a very nervous atmosphere in the team. As a result of cost-cutting measures, Intel’s Israeli developer workforce has been reduced by between 1,000 and 1,400 people, representing 15 to 20 percent of its workforce. Some projects were closed.
Image Source: Intel
Current and former Intel employees spoke about this in an interview with Globes. According to them, what bothered them the most about the current round of staff cuts was the uncertainty and protractedness. Typically, companies in Israel say goodbye to their employees quickly and without unnecessary concealment of information. Intel announced the upcoming cuts in August, and delayed most of them until November or even December. The leaders of some groups at Intel’s three research centers in Israel knew in advance which employees they would have to lay off, but continued to distribute tasks as usual, keeping their subordinates in the dark.
As noted, the cuts did not affect Intel’s production activities in Israel. In other words, the Kiryat Gat processor manufacturing plant’s approximately 4,000 employees were not harmed. But the team of 7,000 developers lost from 1,000 to 1,400 people as a result of layoffs. As a result of these events, Intel’s headcount dropped below 10,000 people for the first time in the previous ten years. She crossed this milestone in 2015, and since then has not fallen below this level. In any case, even now Intel remains the largest foreign employer in Israel. Nvidia, for example, has only 4,000 local employees, Microsoft relies on 3,000 Israeli employees, and Apple and Google each have more than 2,000 employees.
According to Israeli sources, Intel’s activities related to the development of central processors were ultimately not affected, but some projects related to the areas of telecommunications technologies and computing accelerators were curtailed. Many veterans left the development field, but Intel did not lay off young employees, since it would not have been possible to save so much on their salaries. The bulk of the dismissed personnel, however, worked at Intel for an average of no more than 10 years.
A distinctive feature of the company’s cost-saving program was the refusal to provide free coffee in offices and pay for leasing a company car. Core expenses could reach $1,000 per month per person, but under public pressure, free drinks for employees still returned to the office, but for now they will have to pay for leasing primarily at their own expense.