Enterprise Minister doesn't think job cuts at Intel's Kildare site are 'inevitable'

ENTERPRISE MINISTER PETER Burke has said that he thinks job losses at Intel’s Ireland campus may not be “inevitable” following an announcement of upcoming staff layoffs by the company.

It has been speculated that up to 1,000 Irish staff are at risk of losing their jobs following Intel’s quarterly earnings report announcement last week, when the company’s CEO announced that there will be employment reductions and a tighter return-to-work policy in the coming months.

No specific layoff figures were announced, though CEO Lip-Bu Tan said the numbers will be confirmed by July.

Media reports, originating from a Bloomberg report which cited an anonymous source, have suggested Intel could lay off more than 20% of its workforce, which numbered about 109,000 employees at the end of last year.

This figure includes approximately 4,900 staff at the company’s chip manufacturing plant in Leixlip, Co Kildare.

Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Burke said that the government is “working closely” with Intel, adding that the tech giant has added “huge value to the Irish economy”.

The enterprise minister said that Intel CEO Tan had made it very clear that the company’s manufacturing of engineering sectors were “central and core to Intel’s future”.

In a note issued to Intel staff last week, the new Intel boss said: “As we refocus on engineering, we will also remove organisational complexity.

“There is no way around the fact that these critical changes will reduce the size of our workforce.”

Burke said that he doesn’t “think it’s inevitable” that there will be job losses among Intel’s Irish staff, though he added that “it’s very uncertain at the moment”.

“From a government perspective, we are doing all we can to ensure that Intel will grow and will stabilise,” Burke said.

He said that the government developing a noational semiconductor strategy, which the Department of Enterprise claims will “aim to capitalise on opportunities for the semiconductor sector at EU level”, and set a direction for activity in the sector.

“When we look at the share of chips produced, 80% of chips are now manufactured in Asia,” Burke said.

“Europe has only about 8% of that market share – we’re really looking forward to increasing that.”