TECH NEWS – The new CEO could see a big cut in the number of Intel employees, as the percentage is said to be quite high!

C.J. Muse, an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, noted earlier this week that he sees aggressive cost-cutting and greater focus at Intel now that Lip-Bu Tan has taken the helm at the iconic chipmaker. Now we may see his first major move, as Bloomberg reports that Intel will announce a 20% (!!!) reduction in its workforce later this week. According to Trading Economics, Intel will have 108,900 employees by the end of 2024, and from that we can calculate that more than 21,000 people could be laid off!

And just as Intel is about to announce its quarterly results. This would be the first time under the new CEO. This is not the first time that the press has reported on Intel’s planned layoffs in recent months. Bloomberg reported something similar last July, highlighting Intel’s plans at the time. At the time, the goal was to lay off 10,000 people, but the company’s total headcount has remained at around 110,000 in recent months.

Under the leadership of former CEO Pat Gelsinger, Intel has developed an ambitious $10 billion cost-cutting plan. It is not yet clear whether Intel’s latest alleged plan to cut its workforce by 20% is a broad outline of Gelsinger’s strategy or a new effort by Lip-Bu Tan. If it happens this week, the very massive cuts would be a bullish catalyst for the analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald, who are clearly positive about Intel’s Foundry Day event on April 29th and also about a possible joint venture announcement.

Intel shares were up 2% in after-hours trading yesterday, after rising ~4% in regular trading. Shares are largely flat so far this year, after recovering some of the steeper losses in March and early April. However, the cut would be huge.

Source: WCCFTech, Bloomberg