Thread regarding Intel Corp. layoffs

@de those were the good old days. Long gone now!

I still get together with 15 of my Intel friends to attend a NY Giants football game. We all started around 1990 on P651, the process that would launch the Pentium processor. “Win and have fun!” was a core value.

Grove was the CEO when we joined. Ranking and rating was just as brutal. Bottom 20% of the distribution received IR/BE or you were canned. No stock.

Yeah, Fire those Guys!

Fire Them, Not Me!

@b3 Well said.

Common, but not true of everyone. I'm still in touch with a few from every group I've been in. A few have gone to great lengths to help me with a career move later.

You get to decide what kind of friend you are.

Times like these show you which are your real friends.

I left 2024 voluntarily. I have left 2 other companies after many years with them. Pretty much all of my coworkers from the other 2 companies I haven't spoken to in many many years. I still keep in touch with about 6-8 of my former Intel coworkers, some left and some are still there. To stay in touch you have to have a connection besides Intel, and even then, chances are those ties will fade. It is like high school, how many of those relationships passed the test of time? I have one. Your ties were the high school experience together like now it is/was your work experience together, beyond that, there is usually nothing. I suspect in a few years, I may have a couple from Intel I may stay in touch with but time will tell. Work relationships are on the surface 95% of the time, they do not run deep like family. I would bet 95% of the people you have met in life you haven't spoken to or even thought of in the last 5 years if you are 40+.

Il

@ap Life moves on. You really going to blame former coworkers for not keeping in touch with you? There have been plenty of layoffs. How many of those coworkers who left before you did you keep in touch with?

Intel as we know it is kaput. Multinational company now more multinational. Lots of postiŋgs for positions in Pune and Bangalore. Looking for an edge to move there since I am fluent in English and flush with severance pay till EOY

@ac @a6 I vaguely remember PSO saying something like "We're not an American company, we're an international company". I think it was 2010-ish. Before FAANG or MAG7, when we were still kind of important and could get away with saying stuff like that. It does seem like that companies who embraced being American have outperformed us. Nothing more American than Apple, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Google, Amazon as they say.

@OP after accepting a buyout and leaving Intel a couple years ago, only one of my coworkers showed any concern or attempted to stay in touch. Others have snooped on my LinkedIn page but didn’t even bother to add me as a connection. I learned that all my relationships at Intel were completely situational and those relationships disappeared the second I walked out the door for the last time. After all the chummy “team builders”, I was kind of bummed about this. But I've come to accept that a company is just a place where you work for a paycheck to support yourself and your family. It’s not a social club or an “Intel family” or whatever other corporate happy talk BS they say when times are good. When business is bad, everyone is just looking out for themselves. If you’ve suddenly left, coworkers may avoid talking to you, almost as if they think your situation might rub off on them.

@af globalism running the show at Intel~

Same. Moved on some time ago. Recently found a position for an Intel co-worker I enjoyed working with and respected. I have an eye out for my old team mates and anticipate more opportunities. . A good attitude is essential to the job search and

Im really surprised to hear all this. I felt like I made many friends during my years at intel. I left maybe 5yrs ago now, but I check these forums as I'm truly concerned about those former colleagues. I’ve helped 3 coworkers get roles at my current company, and I always take time to help those who reach out via LinkedIn to review their CV or give career advice.

Good luck to everyone struggling out there. It’s horrible what bad management has done to Intel.

It's coming alot from people who are insecure,

• ones who worship Intel and basically simps
• ones who know they won't find a job outside Intel
• ones who would lose work visa
• ones who have the most to lose.

If you know someone who has a degree or qualifications that will easily get them hired elsewhere, they can usually be trusted. I have met snakes and I do my research about them before I even trust. Choose it wisely, I have made some really life long friends and people who dislike me cause I'm not worshipping Intel like those that do, just treating it as a corporate job.

@ae Well said. There are no atheists in foxholes, and there are no friends at work.

@ac Can't remember the specifics, but I was there. It was a B-M (business update meeting). Someone asked about why Intel was moving some project to another country and laying off the American workers. Sorry it was a long time ago and I don't recall the project. Anyway, Otellini answered by saying Intel wasn't an American company. The answer didn't go over too well, and many employees were pi---d. I get what he was trying to say, but it came across as him saying they didn't care about American jobs because Intel was in a global market.

@aa I am not the OP.
After a reorg, I had a new manager. Within two weeks, he said that I was going to get an IR and if I want, he can arrange for a package and I can leave before I get an IR. I was shocked because I had performed very well and there was no warning whatsoever. It came out of the blue. I told it to a team mate who I thought was my friend because we used to have lunch together, grab coffee and in general was a friend. Right that
moment, they dropped me like a hot potato, avoided me like I was going to give them some disease and never spoke to me again.

After the initial shock wore off, I contested that IR assessment and I told that manager that I was going to take it to HR and I will fight it. He then came back next day and said I was no longer IR, he just didn't know what I had contributed. I left that team ( looking back, I should have left the company. But I had other personal constraints) and had multiple promotions later on and I am here almost a decade later.

I learnt during that time that there are no "friends" at work and people are just acting a corporate role.

@a6 otellini comment i wasn't there... say more

Didn't Grove say "only the paranoid survive"? Don't believe them. You are a dust to be swept away. It is not a family either. Good luck finding the home you deserve.

What exactly did they do, please elaborate

I'm sure my co-worker only had the best intentions but right after he said "gee sorry you're let go", he also let me know that his sister is a realtor and would love to help me sell my house.

You learn who your real Intel friends are when things get rough, I had exactly zero.

@OP I've definitely seen the lack of compassion since getting laid off. The general attitude seems to be "yeah, bummer...so anyway, show me how to do your job before you leave."

@a2 I guess one clue would've been decades ago when Paul Otellini was doing company meeting and stated emphatically that Intel was NOT an American company.

I learned it four years into my job ( starting out as an RCG). One of the many things at Intel which me lose naive starry-eyed innocence and turned me into a practical, mechanical bot ☹️.

@a3 watched a lot of zombie apocalypse movies I see?
People will ki-l your entire family for some mac and cheese.

Society is just 3 missed meals from total collapse. All the niceties are a thin veneer and window dressing on the drive to survive. Never forget.

Its a chinese-israeli company. What were you expecting? Caviar?

That’s what forced rankings and a hyper competitive environment will eventually do to people. Gotta survive.