Intel to shed up to 6,000 jobs

CPU and PC hardware vendor Intel has announced that it is to restructure some of its manufacturing operations and capacity in an effort to consolidate and streamline the firm, leading to the potential loss of up to 6,000 employees worldwide.

An Intel statement reads: The company plans to close two existing assembly test facilities in Penang, Malaysia and one in Cavite, Philippines, and will halt production at Fab 20, an older 200mm wafer fabrication facility in Hillsboro, Oregon. Additionally, wafer production operations will end at the D2 facility in Santa Clara, California.

The actions at the four sites, when combined with associated support functions, are expected to affect between 5,000 and 6,000 employees worldwide. However, not all employees will leave Intel; some may be offered positions at other facilities. The actions will take place between now and the end of 2009.

The company will consolidate and streamline some older capacity without impacting the deployment of new, leading-edge 45-nanometer and 32-nanometer manufacturing capacity.”

The losses are just the latest in an unfortunate line of similar announcements, with the last five days alone seeing job losses announced at firms including Eidos, EA, Microsoft, Nokia and Sony.