Intel Layoffs Go Into Effect

A raft of anticipated Intel layoffs became reality on Monday as the global giant’s Israel branch began handing out hundreds of termination notices, Globes reported.

Several hundred of Intel Israel’s employees were officially put on the lists for layoff or voluntary retirement as part of the chipmaker’s broader streamlining program.

Company sources said that those employees being fired will receive from eight to as much as twelve months of salary in compensation, surpassing legally required severance payments.

Intel Israel is a major contributor to the local economy with 10,000 employees at its manufacturing and development centers in Yerushalayim, Kiryat Gat, Yakum, Haifa and Petach Tikva.

The layoffs will include some production workers in Kiryat Gat, even though the company will be beginning a recruitment drive in the coming months for the new, upgraded plant, slated to start operating in 2017. By next year Kiryat Gat alone will have 4,000 employees.

Despite the streamlining, Intel has reaffirmed that it will honor all its commitments to Israel for which it has received generous government grants and incentives.