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Intel, a major Austin technology employer, is the latest tech company to undergo layoffs.
The California-based semiconductor manufacturer, which counts itself as one of Austin’s largest tech employers, confirmed this week it would be laying off employees nationally in positions across the company. Intel, which employed about 2,100 people in Austin as of 2022, declined to disclose number of positions that could be affected nationally, or in Central Texas.
Intel’s reduction in force comes amid a rocky market for the technology sector, which has seen widespread layoffs and other cost-saving measures, including reducing real estate holdings and leases. The semiconductor giant’s cuts also follow the company’s report last month showing it had its largest quarterly loss in its history, with a net loss of $2.8 billion and a 36% drop in revenue year over year, as personal computer sales slumped.
“We are focused on identifying cost reductions and efficiency gains through multiple initiatives, including some business and function-specific workforce reductions in areas across the company,” the company said in a statement.
In Austin, the company has a research and development center in Southwest Austin. Intel’s website said the Austin workforce is focused on a number of areas including cloud computing, Internet of Things, programmable solutions, memory and 5G connectivity at that center. The company has been in Austin for over two decades, since it first acquired an engineering operation in 1998.
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Is Intel selling its Austin office space?
Prior to the layoff announcement, Intel had been exploring the sale of its 61-acre corporate campus in Southwest Austin. The sale was first reported by the Real Deal in January, and at the time Intel told the real estate publication it was exploring “more cost-effective workspace options” for its Central Texas workforce. An Intel spokesperson confirmed to the American-Statesman on Wednesday the campus had an active listing.
Intel’s Austin campus, which is on MoPac Boulevard, was listed in marketing materials from CBRE. The listing said the office complex has more than 420,000 square feet of space between three connected buildings, was built in the 1990s, and includes a 47,000-square-foot lab and 6,800-square-foot data center. CBRE declined to comment on the listing.
Intel first moved into the office complex in 2012, after buying it for $39 million. At the time the company had about 1,000 employees and said the campus gave it room to expand.
According to CBRE’s listing, Intel plans to fully occupy the office after the sale through a short-term lease that would be determined before it is sold. However, the listing also mentions the potential for redevelopment opportunities.
The listing did not include an asking price for the property.
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Part of a wider pattern of layoffs in Tech industry
Intel’s cuts are part of a wider trend of layoffs and cost-cutting in the technology industry as tech giants let go of thousands of employees in the past year. It has not been immediately clear how much impact the Central Texas tech workforce has seen, but industry experts say its certain Austin’s tech sector has been affected.
Several companies with large Austin workforces, including Google, Austin-based Tesla, and Facebook parent-company Meta, have reduced workforces since last summer. This includes in February, when Round Rock-based Dell Technologies, an Intel competitor announced it was laying off 6,650 workers, or about 5% of its global workforce, as the company prepares for an expected economic downturn. Austin-based jobsite Indeed announced cuts in March, saying it would be laying off about 15% of its global workforce due to a cooldown in the job market and reduced demand for its technology. Neither of the companies disclosed how many Austin-based workers would be affected.
Meta, which had about 2,000 employees in Austin prior to layoffs, announced its latest round of cuts in March, cutting 10,000 employees nationally, though it did not say if any layoffs would be in Austin. The company said last year it will no longer occupy office space in a new downtown Austin tower as previously planned, and it would instead sublease its 589,000-square-foot space in a tower called Sixth and Guadalupe.
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