A routine California filing on December 9 confirmed 59 permanent job cuts at Intel’s Santa Clara facilities, effective November 30, exposing ongoing restructuring at the heart of the once-dominant chipmaker. As new CEO Lip Bu Tan stated in 2025, Intel no longer ranks among the top 10 semiconductor companies, marking a stark reversal for a Silicon Valley pioneer now grappling with survival amid fierce competition and financial strain.
What Is Happening Inside Intel
The latest reductions targeted three Santa Clara sites, with 45 positions eliminated at the global headquarters on Mission College Boulevard. This focus on the strategic core, rather than peripheral operations, underscores a profound internal overhaul. Seventy-six percent of the November cuts struck executive offices, engineering leadership, and planning teams, thinning the company’s command structure.
This Was Not the First Cut
These layoffs extend a pattern that began earlier. In October 2024, Intel shed over 2,000 jobs across California, Oregon, Arizona, and Texas. By November 15, another 1,300 positions vanished in Oregon alone. The momentum built to July 2025, when Oregon recorded 2,392 Intel layoffs—one of the state’s largest workforce reductions—prompting analysts to diagnose systemic issues rather than mere adjustments.
A New CEO Accelerates the Crisis
Pat Gelsinger announced 15,000 layoffs and $10 billion in cost cuts in August 2024, citing stagnant revenues, alongside a dividend suspension. Lip Bu Tan succeeded him in March 2025 after disputes over restructuring scope. Tan escalated further, declaring 21,000 additional cuts by year’s end, totaling about 39,000 jobs or 31% of Intel’s workforce. He also slashed management layers by roughly 50% in Q2 2025, flattening teams that once spanned eight levels deep.
Losing Ground to Rivals and Financial Collapse
Intel’s decline accelerated as competitors surged ahead. Tan noted that two or three decades ago, Intel led the industry; now NVIDIA commands 70% to 95% of AI accelerators, and AMD’s MI300 chips generated over $2 billion in revenue, while Intel’s Gaudi line faltered. Gross margins cratered from 42.5% in Q3 2023 to 15.0% in Q3 2024. Revenues dropped $24 billion from 2020 to 2023 even as headcount grew. Q3 2024 brought $2.8 billion in restructuring charges, $3.1 billion in asset impairments, and $2.9 billion in goodwill write-downs. Intel posted approximately a $19 billion loss for 2024 overall.
Factories and Strategies Falter
Expansion plans soured into burdens. Billions poured into new factories in Ohio, Germany, Poland, Ireland, and Israel, but by 2025 Germany halted, Poland canceled, and Ohio delayed beyond 2030 amid softening demand. Intel Foundry Services hemorrhaged about $7 billion from yield problems and delays, unable to rival TSMC at 3 nm and 5 nm nodes. Partners shifted dynamics: NVIDIA invested $5 billion, Amazon pledged custom chips for Intel fabs starting 2025, and Google turned to its own TPUs. In April 2025, Intel mandated four in-office days weekly, accelerating remote worker exits alongside layoffs.
Ripple Effects Widen
In California, Intel employed about 9,000 as of January 2024; the 59 cuts represent 0.66%. Santa Clara County remains a dominant economic hub in California, but the layoffs underscore the broader semiconductor sector contraction. The pre-holiday timing drew scrutiny, as permanent terminations offered families little notice. Suppliers felt the pinch too—Intel’s $2.2 billion in diverse spending in 2022 now contracts, straining logistics and manufacturers. Statewide, California lost 4,500 jobs in September 2025, its fourth consecutive monthly drop, with U.S. semiconductor employment down nearly 8% since 2024. Despite CHIPS Act billions for domestic production, delays funneled manufacturing toward Vietnam and Malaysia.
Intel confronts a pivotal reinvention, balancing a leaner structure against rivals’ dominance and policy crosswinds. Success hinges on whether scaled-back operations can reclaim competitiveness, with broader U.S. tech and manufacturing stakes in the outcome.
Sources
“Intel to lay off 15000 employees,” TechCrunch, July 31, 2024
“Intel Q3 2024 Earnings Release: Restructuring and Investments,” Futurumgroup.com, January 6, 2025
“Fresh Intel layoffs impact almost 2400 Oregon workers,” DataCenter Dynamics, July 13, 2025
“California unemployment rises in September as forecast predicts slow jobs growth,” Los Angeles Times, December 11, 2025
“Intel cuts dozens of Bay Area jobs in latest layoffs,” Yahoo Finance, December 9, 2025
“Intel in California,” Intel Corporate Responsibility, April 28, 2025