Intel’s workforce in Israel has dropped to 9,350 employees, the lowest since 2013, as part of a major restructuring.

This is a decrease from 10,800 employees in 2023, 11,700 in 2022, and 12,000 in 2021.

The reduction is part of a global cost-cutting initiative, with more layoffs expected later this year.

Intel employs around 109,000 people globally, but the number of job cuts and affected regions remain unclear.

Intel’s new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, who started six weeks ago, plans to reduce operating expenses to US$17 billion in 2025 and US$16 billion by 2026. Capital expenditures will also be cut by US$2 billion this year.

🔗 Source: Calcalist

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Intel’s cyclical layoffs reflect a company pattern spanning decades

Intel’s current workforce reduction in Israel continues a historical pattern dating back to the 1980s, with major cuts occurring roughly every decade.

In 1986, Intel laid off 1,300 employees due to “excess capacity and slow recovery in demand” 1, followed by 10,500 cuts (10% of workforce) in 2006 amid competition from AMD 2, and another 12,000 job eliminations (11%) in 2016 as the company struggled to adapt to the shift from PCs to mobile devices 3.

Each wave of layoffs has been accompanied by similar justifications: cost-cutting necessities, competitive pressures, and the need for strategic realignment—similar to today’s stated reasons.

The cyclical nature of these reductions suggests deeper structural challenges that temporary workforce cuts have not resolved, with the current reductions potentially representing the largest percentage of workforce elimination in the company’s history at a projected 20% across 2024-2025 4.

Analysis of past layoffs indicates they often follow periods of market complacency where Intel failed to anticipate industry shifts, with Forbes noting the 2016 cuts reflected “poor management” that failed to gradually adjust to clearly visible market trends 3.

2️⃣ Cultural transformation attempts follow consistent failures in execution

New CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s focus on returning Intel to its “engineering roots” echoes similar promises made by previous leadership during restructuring efforts.

Tan’s diagnosis that Intel is “too slow, too complex and too set in our ways” directly addresses the bureaucratic obstacles that multiple sources identify as a core weakness—the same issues that Intel has repeatedly attempted to solve through leadership changes and reorganizations 5.

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