Irish jobs at risk as Intel set to announce plans to cut over 20% of global workforce

Intel is poised to announce plans to cut over 21,000 people, or roughly 20% of its workforce, according to a report from Bloomberg.

The impending layoffs, which could be announced as early as this week, are part of a broader strategy by the company to streamline management and to refocus on an engineering-driven culture, the report said.

It marks the first major round of job cuts under new Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who took over leadership of the company last month to revive the struggling chipmaker after years of challenges.

Intel had around 108,900 employees at the end of last year after it announced 15,000 job cuts in August 2024, with the company currently employing 4,900 people in Ireland.

While it's unclear how the job cuts will be spread across the company, if the losses are shared across the business it could mean the company's facility in Leixlip, Co Kildare will be impacted.

Insiders have indicated that the majority of jobs lost will be in the area of administration, sales, human resources and other non-core areas for the business.

Intel has been struggling for quite some time, with the company’s stock dipping around 67 per cent over the past five years.

The company was once the dominant force in the personal computer and data centre markets, but has lost ground to rivals like Nvidia and Arm, especially in the fast-growing AI chip segment. Intel reported a $19 billion (€22bn) annual loss in 2024, its first since 1986.

The company first set up in Ireland in 1989 and has invested up to €30 billion in the country, creating what it says is the most advanced industrial campus in Europe at its Leixlip site.

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