Intel employees in Ireland may be facing compulsory layoffs following the conclusion of the company’s voluntary severance program, as indicated by internal documents obtained by the Irish news outlet Business Post.
According to an internal memo reviewed by the outlet, Intel will evaluate voluntary severance applications based on “business priorities,” which means some employees who applied to leave may not be accepted. The memo states: “Business units will review all employees who are eligible and apply in the [voluntary severance] tool and will make decisions about who will be accepted and who will not, based on business priorities.”
This move is part of Intel’s broader plan to reduce its global workforce by up to 15% as part of a significant reorganization effort. While the exact number of job cuts in Ireland has not been disclosed, applying the global reduction target could potentially lead to approximately 730 job losses at Intel’s Leixlip facility.
On August 9, the Department of Enterprise received formal notification from Intel regarding proposed collective redundancies, indicating the company’s intention to cut more than 30 jobs within a 30-day period.
Intel had offered voluntary severance packages to its Irish staff, with packages worth up to €500,000 and a base offer of five weeks’ pay per year of service, capped at 104 weeks’ pay.
The memo also cautioned that applying for voluntary severance does not guarantee the preservation of another employee’s job, stating: “Because people actions are business unit decisions, there may be multiple factors contributing to a business unit’s decision to take a people action, and what kind of action to take.”
An Intel spokeswoman declined to reveal the exact number of roles that will be cut in Ireland or how many of these will be compulsory, stating, “We are working through the details to understand the local impact and we are not disclosing a number right now in relation to impact in Ireland.”
This development comes after Intel recently informed analysts that its accelerated shift to manufacturing in Ireland last year had significantly impacted its quarterly profit margins. David Zinsner, Intel’s Chief Financial Officer, noted that the move to Leixlip had affected profit margins, stating, “Ireland is a higher-cost environment.”
