It’s not every day that the president of the United States calls for the head of a major company to be fired. But that’s what happened last August, when President Donald Trump accused Lip-Bu Tan, the new CEO of Intel, of being too cozy with China.
Then in typical fashion, Trump reversed himself and proposed converting the $10.8 billion subsidy Intel had received from the CHIPS Act into an equity stake. Intel accepted the deal, and now the federal government owns a nearly 10 percent nonvoting stake in the company.
While much has been written about Intel’s financial and technical challenges, very little has been said about the impact of management’s cost cutting on the company’s employees.
In October 2024, Intel cut 15 percent of its global workforce, eliminating fifteen thousand positions. Then shortly afterward, the company gave its fired CEO, Pat Gelsinger, a $7,853,450 severance package.
Thus far, it has laid off 7,500 workers across four states. But Intel’s new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, isn’t feeling any pain. He’s getting $1 million a year and is eligible for bonuses of up to $2 million. His long-term stock options are valued at $66 million.
Studies on the impact of job loss have documented that layoffs increase the risk of suicide, substance-use disorders, poor physical and mental health, divorce, and homelessness. The impact extends to the communities where workers live: local businesses lose revenue, demand for social services increases, and local governments can see their tax bases crater.
With the government’s huge publicly financed stake in Intel, Intel communities have an opportunity to hold the company accountable for the impact of these job cuts on workers and their communities. When the federal government under Joe Biden awarded $10.86 billion to Intel in 2024, management agreed to a whole host of workforce development, environmental, and social policy goals — including a commitment to create ten thousand new…
Auteur: Rand Wilson
