Ddos 
Since the autumn of 2024, Intel has been undergoing waves of layoffs, and the trend shows no signs of abating. According to the latest reports, the company is preparing for a significant round of job cuts within its wafer foundry division, beginning in July 2025.
The wafer foundry business—Intel’s contract manufacturing service for other companies’ chips—has long been a strategic focus of former CEO Pat Gelsinger, who viewed it as a critical pathway to revitalizing Intel’s declining fortunes.
However, the foundry business is capital-intensive by nature. Fabrication plants demand enormous investment and ongoing maintenance, not to mention a substantial workforce to sustain daily operations. The scale of financial resources required to keep these facilities running is staggering.
An internal memo from Randhir Thakur, head of Intel Foundry Services, informed staff that the layoffs are a direct response to financial pressures and the company’s cost structure. The decision on who stays and who goes will be based on business priorities, individual performance evaluations, and a strategic review of which projects will continue moving forward.
While Thakur did not explicitly state the layoff percentage, The Oregonian reports that Intel plans to reduce headcount in the foundry business by 15% to 20%, potentially impacting as many as 11,000 employees.
Notably, Intel will not offer voluntary severance packages or buyouts. Instead, the company has opted for selective termination, with the goal of retaining top-tier talent. Employees across all levels—from technicians on the production floor to members of management—will face the risk of redundancy.
That said, certain specialized roles remain indispensable. Engineers working on cutting-edge process technologies, as well as highly skilled technicians responsible for operating EUV and high numerical aperture EUV lithography systems, are unlikely to be affected. These professionals play a pivotal role in semiconductor fabrication, and even if laid off, they are expected to find new employment with relative ease.
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