Intel employees have been bracing for bad news ever since veteran chip investor Lip-Bu Tan stepped in as chief executive last month.
On Tuesday, Reuters confirmed what many feared:
Intel will slash “more than 20 % of its workforce” — roughly 21 000 jobs — in Tan’s first major move to “eliminate bureaucracy and rebuild an engineering-driven culture.”
The layoffs, expected to be announced formally at this week’s Q1 earnings call, follow last August’s 15 % staff reduction and dividend suspension, part of a $10 billion cost-cutting drive to offset shrinking PC and data-center margins.
Analysts say Intel’s two-year turnaround now hinges on getting leaner while pouring cash into AI chips and new U.S. fabs. Tan told employees the company must make “tough decisions” to fix a “slow-moving and bloated” management layer.
For workers, the corporate strategy matters less than the personal fallout that comes when a badge stops working.
Last year, tech firms cut more than 150,000 roles. By mid-April 2025, another 22,000 positions had vanished across the sector. Intel’s latest round will be the biggest single hit yet — one that could leave many engineers and support staff scrambling.
As someone who’s reported through more than a few layoff cycles, I know the temptation is to panic-update LinkedIn and hope for the best.
Don’t.
Here are five financially savvy steps to consider while the pink-slip rumors swirl.
1. Read the severance fine print before you sign
Intel’s August 2024 package offered 60-day WARN pay, two weeks of salary for every full year of service, and subsidized health coverage through year-end.
Tan hasn’t revealed the 2025 terms, but HR insiders say the formula will be “similar, not richer.”
That means you need to account for taxes, vesting cliffs on RSUs, and COBRA premiums before agreeing to anything. Read every line of the agreement before signing. Double-check:
How long company-paid health insurance lasts and the COBRA or marketplace cost after that.
Vesting dates for RSUs and stock options — a small date shift can mean thousands.
Payout rules on unused PTO and bonuses.
Ask HR these questions in writing:
When do unvested stock grants accelerate—or do they?
Will your 2024 bonus (or sales commission) still pay out?
Can you switch unused PTO into cash?
If language in the agreement references non-compete clauses or arbitration, consider a brief consultation with an employment lawyer.
The $300 you spend could protect tens of thousands in severance or future earnings.
2. Triage cash flow and pad the emergency fund
Layoffs hit income first, but expenses keep marching.
Experts recommend keeping three to six months of essential bills in liquid cash — savings, money-market, even your severance check if necessary.
Before the announcement lands:
Draft a bare-bones budget focused on rent or mortgage, groceries, utilities, insurance, and minimum debt payments.
Pause discretionary costs — streaming bundles, gadget upgrades, conference trips.
Apply for state unemployment insurance as soon as eligibility starts; the extra paperwork is worth the runway.
Think of this as flipping your personal finances to “low-power mode.”
Every dollar you conserve now extends the time you can job-hunt without raiding retirement savings — which brings us to the next point.
3. Protect (don’t pillage) retirement money
Intel’s 401(k) is likely your biggest nest egg after home equity.
Resist cashing it out.
That triggers income tax plus a 10 % penalty if you’re under 59½. Instead:
Roll the balance into an IRA or your next employer’s plan to stay invested and defer taxes.
Revisit your asset mix. If severance leaves you overweight in Intel stock, rebalance gradually to avoid single-company risk.
Keep Roth contributions on the radar. Lower income this year might open a window for Roth conversions at a cheaper tax rate.
A Vanguard study found that investors who cashed out during 2020’s Covid crash lost an average of 35 % in long-term growth versus peers who stayed invested. Don’t add self-inflicted wounds to Intel’s.
Selling long-term investments in a panic is the financial equivalent of yanking life support because the hospital bill looks scary.
4. Leverage every support channel — inside and out
Intel typically offers career-transition services, résumé coaching, and access to its alumni jobs portal after layoffs.
Use them — they’re prepaid.
Line up references from managers before org charts disappear.
On the networking front:
Post a concise, forward-looking note on LinkedIn (“I’m proud of what we built in Arc GPUs; I’m excited to tackle new graphics challenges”) rather than a rage-quit rant.
Join Intel-specific Slack and Discord groups where early job leads often drop.
Attend free webinars local workforce centers host on unemployment, health-care bridges, and retraining.
Financially, a good network beats a great résumé: the faster you land, the less severance you spend.
5. Re-tool for the markets Intel is chasing, not leaving
Tan’s memo singled out AI accelerators and advanced foundry services as Intel’s “future growth engines.”
Translation: the company is shedding roles in sales ops and legacy process nodes but hiring in chip-packaging, system-on-package design, and machine-learning compilers.
Even if you never return to Intel, those are the sectors flush with venture capital.
Action plan:
Earn micro-credentials (e.g., Coursera’s “Semiconductor Packaging” or the AI Engineering certification).
Attend virtual conferences — the CHIPS Act workforce consortium hosts monthly job-matching events.
Leverage Intel’s own outplacement vouchers for coding bootcamps; last year’s cohort saw 30 % subsidized tuition.
Upskilling isn’t cheap or quick, but it shifts the narrative from “laid-off” to “in demand.” Recruiters notice.
Moving forward
Intel’s 20 % cut is the sort of headline that rattles an entire industry, but it doesn’t have to define the next chapter of your life.
Control what you can:
Understand the severance, fortify cash reserves, guard retirement assets, lean on every resource, and chart a smart next move.
The tech cycle will turn again — it always does — and the engineers and support pros who navigate today’s storm with clear-headed planning will be the ones steering tomorrow’s innovations.
Layoffs sting.
Financial discipline softens the blow. And sometimes, shedding old titles makes room for the role you actually wanted all along.
Here’s hoping your next badge — Intel blue or otherwise — ushers in not just a paycheck but a little peace of mind.
