Cantor Fitzgerald's star analyst, C.J. Muse, noted earlier this week that he saw "aggressive cost-cutting" and a "greater sense of urgency and purpose" at Intel now that Lip-Bu Tan was at the helm of the iconic chipmaker. Well, we might be about to witness the first such significant penny-pinching step from the new CEO.
To wit, Bloomberg is now reporting that Intel will announce plans later this week to cull its workforce by 20 percent. As per a tabulation by Trading Economics, Intel had 108,900 employees at the end of 2024. Accordingly, the planned layoffs would presumably affect over 21,000 employees.
Today's tidbit comes as Intel is gearing up to announce its earnings for the first quarter of 2025 this week. Of course, this would be the first such event under the nascent leadership of Lip-Bu Tan.
2023: Intel announces 15,000 jobs to be eliminated, from approximately 131,900 to 124,800.
2024: Intel announced plans to reduce its workforce by approximately 15%, which equated to over 15,000 job cuts.
2025 so far (April 22): Intel plans to cut around 20% of its workforce,…
— Samantha LaDuc (@SamanthaLaDuc) April 23, 2025
Do note that this is not the first time that the financial media has reported on Intel's planned layoffs in recent months. A similar report by Bloomberg also surfaced back in July 2024, highlighting Intel's then-plans to cull its workforce by 10,000 employees. However, Intel's total workforce has persisted around the 110,000 level for the past few months.
Intel, under the tutelage of its previous CEO, Pat Gelsinger, had devised an ambitious cost-cutting plan, to the tune of $10 billion. It remains unclear if Intel's latest purported plan for a 20 percent cut in its workforce adheres to the broad outlines of Gelsinger's strategy or constitutes an entirely new effort by Lip-Bu Tan.
Of course, if the planned layoffs do materialize this week, they would constitute a bullish catalyst for Cantor Fitzgerald analysts, who also view with manifest positivity the upcoming Intel Foundry Day event on April 29th and any announcement related to a potential JV.
Intel shares are up 2 percent in after-hours trading today, which follows ~4 percent gains in the regular trading session. So far this year, the stock is largely flat, having recouped some of its steeper losses of March and early April.
Note:
An earlier version of the article wrongly implied that Intel's earnings are next week. This error has now been corrected.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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