Intel layoffs to hit 159 Folsom, Calif., workers

Intel layoffs to hit 159 Folsom, Calif., workers. Check it out:
(Sacramento Bee, The (CA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Sep. 28--Intel Corp. will lay off 159 workers from its Folsom campus over the next several months, a fraction of roughly 7,000 employees worldwide expected to be let go in the first phase of a major restructuring the company announced last month.



With this wave of layoffs, Intel has accomplished about 70 percent of its goal of paring more than 10,000 people from its global work force by the middle of 2007, said Intel spokeswoman Teri Munger.

Locally, the largest contingent of laid-off workers, 117, comes from Intel's Folsom-based information technology department, which handles the company's internal network operations.

In a letter sent to Folsom and Sacramento County officials Wednesday, Intel human resources manager Matthew Smith said the company has already started informing workers of their fate, but the bulk of the cuts will come Oct. 26.

It's not clear if most of the job cuts in Folsom will come during this phase, or in the first half of 2007, when the remainder of the job reductions are planned.

In the letter, Smith told government officials that the workers can volunteer for immediate separation from the company or look for other work at Intel. But it's uncertain how successful those job searches would be given the company's downsizing efforts.

Those who depart immediately will receive two months of salary, plus additional weeks based on years of service. They also will receive a lump sum to pay for four months of health coverage.

Workers who elect to search for other Intel jobs can receive two months of salary and benefits during their job hunt. If they don't find work in two months, they will be terminated and receive additional weeks of pay based on years of service.

Those positions -- which range from hourly workers to management -- pay between $45,000 and $120,000 a year, said Peter Finn, who left Intel in August to form his own IT consulting firm, Gold Rush Media.

Finn said he expected many of the workers would have to leave the region to find comparable work. "There's really only 10 or 15 decent (IT) jobs that open up here every month," he said. "One of the reasons I left Intel early is that I didn't want to be in a pool competing for a finite number of jobs."

Oleg Kaganovich, chief executive of the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance, said he expected the most skilled Intel workers will be able to land jobs in the area.

"There are a lot of companies that are always looking for good people," he said. "If they see someone they can add to their staff that will bring immediate value, there's no reason not to bring them on board."

While IT operations take the biggest hit, others are affected, too.

Folsom's digital enterprise group will shed 31 jobs between now and October 2007. Its technology and manufacturing group will cut 10 jobs late next month. Intel Capital, which invests in technology companies, will cut one job on Oct. 13.

The number of cuts is smaller than some had anticipated after Intel's announcement during the summer that it planned to trim 10 percent of its worldwide work force as it sought to reverse disappointing financial results and fight off challenges from Silicon Valley rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

"Any reduction is an important issue, and we feel for the workers and their families," said Joe Luchi, Folsom's economic development director. "Fortunately the number isn't bigger."

While the most recent cuts are the largest Intel has announced, they aren't the only jobs that have been eliminated from Folsom this year.

In July the company laid off 1,000 managers worldwide including an estimated 77 in Folsom. In late June it sold a division that makes chips for cellular phones to Marvell Technology Group of Santa Clara for $600 million. Intel would not disclose the number of Folsom employees in that unit, but it's estimated to be more than 100. Marvell was expected to keep the majority of those workers in a new office it is opening in the region.

And earlier this month it sold a piece of its optical networking division that employed 125 workers, including an undisclosed number in Folsom.

To see more of The Sacramento Bee, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sacbee.com.

Copyright (c) 2006, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
The opinions and views expressed in comments, blogs, etc. are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of TMC, TMCnet, or its editors. TMCnet reserves the right to edit, delete, or otherwise make changes to the content that appears on these pages at its own discretion and as it deems necessary.

Listed below are links to sites that reference Intel layoffs to hit 159 Folsom, Calif., workers:

Around TMCnet Blogs

Latest Whitepapers

TMCnet Videos