Intel to Cut 24,000 Jobs and Scale Back Global Operations

In April, Intel made an attempt to communicate workforce reductions without making a formal announcement. “We have not set any headcount reduction target,” Intel spokesperson Sophie Metzger informed The Verge. However, the company has since proceeded with thousands of layoffs — and in its Q2 2025 earnings report, it has now confirmed that Intel will become a significantly smaller company as a direct result. Intel states it will withdraw from planned projects in Germany and Poland, cease its assembly and test operations in Costa Rica, and conclude 2025 with roughly 75,000 core employees.

At the close of 2024, Intel employed 109,800 individuals, with 99,500 of them classified as core employees. This indicates the company is letting go of approximately 24,000 people this year — reducing its core workforce by about a quarter. (It has also divested other business units, further reducing the size of the overall organization.)

This is the most recent indication of the extent to which Intel's new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, is prepared to cut as he works to streamline the company. This follows years of challenges and a tepid response to the AI boom. In late June, Intel discontinued its automotive chipmaking division and announced it would lay off up to 20 percent of its silicon fabrication plant workers; in July, it spun off its RealSense computer vision business.

During the recent earnings call, Intel's CEO admitted the company had over-invested in new fabrication plants before securing sufficient customer demand, leading to facilities that were "needlessly fragmented." He emphasized that capacity expansion must now proceed "in lock step" with reaching concrete milestones.

“I do not subscribe to the 'if you build it, they will come' philosophy. Under my leadership, we will construct what our customers require, precisely when they need it, and in doing so, earn their confidence,” stated Tan.

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Now, in Germany and Poland, where Intel had planned to invest tens of billions of dollars—on a "mega-fab" employing 3,000 in Germany and an assembly and test facility for 2,000 in Poland—the company will "no longer proceed with the planned projects," effectively canceling them entirely.

Intel has maintained operations in Poland since 1993, and the company clarified that its existing R&D facilities there are not closing. (Intel had previously postponed these new Germany and Poland projects "by approximately two years" back in 2024.)

In Costa Rica, where Intel currently employs more than 3,400 people, the company will "consolidate its assembly and test operations into its larger sites in Vietnam." Metzger informed The Verge that over 2,000 employees in Costa Rica are expected to remain, working in engineering and corporate roles.

The company is also scaling back in Ohio: “Intel will further slow the pace of construction in Ohio to align spending with market demand.” Intel CFO David Zinsner noted that Intel will continue its investments there, and construction will proceed.

It remains uncertain if the pace of layoffs will decelerate now that we are past the year's midpoint, but Intel confirmed it has already "completed the majority of the planned headcount actions announced last quarter to shrink its core workforce by approximately 15 percent."

So far, partly due to the $1.9 billion in costs associated with these layoffs and the restructuring, Intel is still reporting a loss this quarter. It posted a $2.9 billion loss on $12.9 billion in quarterly revenue, which is essentially flat compared to the previous year. Despite the continuing AI boom, Intel's data center business grew only 4 percent year-over-year to $3.9 billion, while its PC chip revenue declined 3 percent to $7.9 billion. Intel's foundry business, which manufactures chips for external clients, increased 3 percent to $4.4 billion.

The company affirms it is on schedule to reduce its expenses by $17 billion for the full year, and that at least one of its upcoming flagship laptop processors is progressing as planned: “The first Panther Lake processor SKU remains on schedule to begin shipping later this year, with additional variants arriving in the first half of 2026.”

Tan confirmed that its successor, Nova Lake, is still slated for the end of 2026. He added that he has "taken steps to correct past mistakes concerning multi-threading capabilities" in the company's Performance cores. Furthermore, Tan stated he is personally assuming responsibility for each new chip design under a new policy already in force: "every major chip design requires my personal review and approval before tape-out."

Meanwhile, Intel says it is increasing production of its popular but previously costly Lunar Lake chips in the upcoming quarter.

Tan also mentioned that he will announce new leadership for Intel's data center business next quarter and will provide more details on its strategy for a comprehensive AI solution "in the coming months."

Correction, July 24th: An earlier version of this article miscalculated the number of employees Intel would shed; the correct figure is approximately 24,000, not 33,000. (Intel stated it would end the year with 75,000 core employees. The 108,900 figure we initially compared this to was last year's total headcount, including non-core operations. The core employee count at the end of last year was 99,500.)