Intel's Layoff Letter To Employees

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It looks as though the rumor we posted at the beginning of the month was true. Just weeks after pledging $300 million to a workplace diversity fund and another $125 million for tech firms led by women and minorities, the company has started sending out termination notices. :(
 
How many of those positions will be replaced with H1 Visa Holders...answer...many......
 
Well now, who did not see this coming? I guess pandering to the social justice crowd is more important than the livelihood of your workers and quality of your product.
 
Ouch, I don't think I've ever seen a layoff notice that came right out and said "we're laying you off because we compiled a list of our crappier employees and you were on it". Usually that's just implied.
 
"DOWN WITH WHITEY!"

Easiest way to meet the equal opportunity quota is to get rid of the whites.

I'm white so I can say that.
 
Anybody who was smart took their voluntary severance they offered a year or 2 back to the entire company. My current employer picked up a few of their employees this way.

Now it sounds like they learned their lesson on severance and just taking out the trash this time. I'm sure it's mostly white and asian male trash but still. Gotta cut somewhere. I suspect it's harder to get those lower review ratings if you are female or a minority.
 
Most companies are pretty terrible at knowing which employees are good and which are bad.
Intel is aggressively trusting their HR department on this, and its doing things like the company is an adaptive computer algorithm of sorts.
I thought they are making billions, yet only 2 months pay and 4 months cobra? wow, some cheap bastards, I guess by law it would be 0$ so I guess there's that.
 
dewbak75 said:
Ouch, I don't think I've ever seen a layoff notice that came right out and said "we're laying you off because we compiled a list of our crappier employees and you were on it". Usually that's just implied.
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Intel takes their Rank and Rate process pretty seriously ... sometimes it works to your advantage and sometimes it works against you ... isn't it better for a company to actually cut loose dead weight rather than just doing wholesale layoffs that eliminate both good and poor employees

That said, I left Intel as part of a workforce reduction in 2002 (after 14 years employment there) ... they treated me very well throughout the process and I received a lucrative payout for leaving ... there is no easy way to lay off employees but Intel seemed to do less painfully than some of the other companies I have worked for since
 
Uvaman said:
Most companies are pretty terrible at knowing which employees are good and which are bad.
Intel is aggressively trusting their HR department on this, and its doing things like the company is an adaptive computer algorithm of sorts.
I thought they are making billions, yet only 2 months pay and 4 months cobra? wow, some cheap bastards, I guess by law it would be 0$ so I guess there's that.
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The letter mentions additional payout for time in the company (although it doesn't list the amounts) ... when I left Intel in 2002 as part of a layoff they were offering 4 weeks for every year (I would expect a 2-4 week number for this layoff as well)

Also, Intel is relying on their Rank and Rate process to identify the low performers ... all the managers participate in the R&R sessions so it isn't just HR's opinions on the low performers (although politics with the other managers and groups can sometimes affect that to a degree)
 
My current employer has done a 5% layoff just about every year since I joined (while hiring equally many in the same time). Not a fan of it. But in talking to those who were laid off... Intel's severance package sucks. Bad. My company did three times better.

That's not taking care of valued employees, and it will have a negative effect on those who remain unless the percentage of laid off employees is very low. Things like this make it difficult to attract new talent in the future.
 
Kitebasher said:
"DOWN WITH WHITEY!"

Easiest way to meet the equal opportunity quota is to get rid of the whites.

I'm white so I can say that.
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Nah, I think they had 2 flat quarters , so they must do something!!... must be some panic setting in somewhere.. I guess their ARM strategy is falling flat?, ARM eating up some growth at least? fears there's more pain in the way?.
When people tell me they are just ready to toss their desktop if they ever do a great docking station (Galaxy 5 user).. that might tell you a bit about the future of X86.. or at least the potential future.
 
the vast majority of employees do not pay attention to their SSL. When these requirements came out, it was a head scratcher for most people. The out of cycle BE/IR ratings makes sense... but basing it on stock level, when people can very well be rated successful with a stock level 4, is pretty absurd.
 
I got laid once and I felt off for weeks afterwards.

Okay, joking aside it is lame that they're doing it, but like the k-to-the-brickster (OMG, that's the best name ever...you should seriously consider making a new account with that as a screen name, kbrickley) said, it's less damaging overall to cut some employees and have the company continue to exist so it can keep paying other people than have it try to retain everyone, operate inefficiently and then totally declare scary-face bankruptcy before shutting down and leaving all of its employees without jobs instead of just some of them once every few years.
 
The outrage! Aaaaaaand nothing will happen. Move on to the next "outrage"...

Yes, this sucks, but the right people won't care.
 
How many of those terminated are white cis men and how many are the women and/or minorities they started the program for. My guess is that you are seeing forced demographic shifting in order for some exec to meet some made up goal they set for themselves. Hopefully AMD is hiring during this ... they could get a lot of talent and "inside" information.
 
EODetroit said:
My current employer has done a 5% layoff just about every year since I joined (while hiring equally many in the same time). Not a fan of it. But in talking to those who were laid off... Intel's severance package sucks. Bad. My company did three times better.

That's not taking care of valued employees, and it will have a negative effect on those who remain unless the percentage of laid off employees is very low. Things like this make it difficult to attract new talent in the future.
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How much does your company pay :eek: ... when I left Intel in 2002 I received 11 months pay plus my 401K at the time had about 250,000 (which I took also) ... I thought that was a decent payout :confused:
 
Armenius said:
Well now, who did not see this coming? I guess pandering to the social justice crowd is more important than the livelihood of your workers and quality of your product.
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This is the unfortunate and bitter truth beyond such "initiatives" ultimately, hamstringing is still hamstringing, even if there's a tax write off.
 
It's 1month notice and 2months pay. So it's really 3 months. Not like you are going to do dick but look for a job on Intel's dime for that last month you are there.

If you can't find a job in tech with 3 months.. You are either lazy, stupid, or just over valuing your skills. Of course I'm sure it's not fun to move either if you live in portland where all their is is Intel...
 
EODetroit said:
My current employer has done a 5% layoff just about every year since I joined (while hiring equally many in the same time). Not a fan of it. But in talking to those who were laid off... Intel's severance package sucks. Bad. My company did three times better.

That's not taking care of valued employees, and it will have a negative effect on those who remain unless the percentage of laid off employees is very low. Things like this make it difficult to attract new talent in the future.
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Actually I thought the letter made it very clear that there were NOT valued employees and instead were the lowest performing ones?
 
Uvaman said:
Nah, I think they had 2 flat quarters , so they must do something!!... must be some panic setting in somewhere.. I guess their ARM strategy is falling flat?, ARM eating up some growth at least? fears there's more pain in the way?.
When people tell me they are just ready to toss their desktop if they ever do a great docking station (Galaxy 5 user).. that might tell you a bit about the future of X86.. or at least the potential future.
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Yeah, it is probably more about flat quarters, and bad timing between two things than anything conspiratorial such as the idea of reverse racism.Intel is to much about numbers to be that way. I did about 10 years of contracts at Intel, so I've witnessed the layoff process without being touched by. I've been touched by re-organization, no reason to keep paying a contractor when they moved your departments duties to another department overseas.

But layoffs I was always lucky to only be a witness off. Unfortunately I also know it is not about low performers. It usually starts with re-organization, then moves off elsewhere, and in much of what I was witness too performance was only an excuse.
 
Remember kids, all white guys are "the man" and "the man" needs to be put in his place. Its not racist or sexist to pick on white guys, because, c'mon, those assholes deserve it for enslaving everyone and patriarchy and stuff and need to check their privilege!
From: Left-USA
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2015 6:59 AM
To: Whitey
Subject: Diversity

Dear White Male,

Fuck you.

Sincerely,
SJW League of America
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As a previous INTEL employee......Intel lays people off every quarter...... That is the nature of their business. If your project is completed, Intel no longer needs the staff hired for the project.......In my experience Intel is one of the best companies to work for.

OHHHHHHH... I can also tell you that everyone who received this notice.....Knew 6 months in advance that a lay off for their department was coming....Intel internally tells all effected parties at 6 and 3 months. They ask for skill assessments to see who can be migrated to other projects.

In the end......since Intel operates on a per project basis...this can be CPU, memory, software...etc... projects......Projects end and sometimes employees have to be let go.

If anyone here has been layed off before look at the compensation... that is very good for the tech sector.

Remember.....Intel does not have to give anyone a severence package.... They do it to make a difficult situation better between the Intel and employee...

Little known fact......Greater than 50% of Intel staff have been layed off and rehired at a later date. It is just how they do business which is why Intel has one of the best severence packages in the tech sector..
 
Taldren said:
How many of those terminated are white cis men and how many are the women and/or minorities they started the program for. My guess is that you are seeing forced demographic shifting in order for some exec to meet some made up goal they set for themselves. Hopefully AMD is hiring during this ... they could get a lot of talent and "inside" information.
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This would be good information to know. If a very large percentage are white males I think a case could be made.

Wouldn't you think that reverse discrimination would be a nice court case? This movement is disgusting. Doesn't matter how qualified you are. We have to meet numbers. Plus it's the new cool thing to do.
 
Could somebody explain the SSL stock thing? I just can't make sense of how owning stock affects your retainability or where 4 or 5 are on the SSL scale.
 
dewbak75 said:
Ouch, I don't think I've ever seen a layoff notice that came right out and said "we're laying you off because we compiled a list of our crappier employees and you were on it". Usually that's just implied.
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I know, right?

It didn't sound like a bad termination package until that paragraph came up LOL
 
Dillirium said:
Wouldn't you think that reverse discrimination would be a nice court case?
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We shouldn't listen to the left that coined it "reverse" racism, which implies that racism is something white men do to other people. Racism is just racism, and no the courts these days are subject to the same political correctness as the rest of the public sector, and won't hear it.

Just look at hate crime legislation. There have been so many cases with apparent racial motivation, heck the thousands and thousands of "knockout games" just for starters, but to date not a single black person has been prosecuted under hate crime legislation with the exception of attacks on homosexuals (unfortunately, of which there has also been a hugely disproportionate number of attacks by the black community against gays compared to whites). Because punishing people for their crimes isn't good enough... you have to check if that person is the same sexual orientation, color, and gender as you before assaulting them.
 
The new Intel i7 series. Install heatsink top to CPU, would you kindly sir. If overheat, kindly refer to Intel sheet for data. If not working, we replace unit for you.

Joking aside, it's just layoffs. I think people are reading too much into it with the recent diversity investment and now the layoffs. I don't think they are related. If they are, Intel is dumb (they aren't) and would be facing some lawsuits. I just don't see them doing that. I don't think it has anything to do with race, sexism, or any kind of diversity stuff... They are just trimming the fat to become more profitable, as usual for business.
 
Corvette said:
Could somebody explain the SSL stock thing? I just can't make sense of how owning stock affects your retainability or where 4 or 5 are on the SSL scale.
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I believe 5 is no stock. 4 is some stock. However I think the surprise here is some people got a S on the focal but got the lower stock grant and were surprised by this layoff. I do not recall if the SSL was on my focal paperwork, but if it was it was usually ignored. Pretty much you see a number of shares granted, your IR,BE,S,EE,O rating and then some dollar + % raise.

So I'm sure some people got hit with this layoff surprise. However I'm betting the majority (IR's/BE's) were not shocked. Hopefully they don't track down the leaker and make him forfeit everything....

Can't say I miss Intel. They were average at best for pay. They give company wide bonus's instead of individual. Their stock grants are pathetic. Compare the overall pay to younger tech companies and you'll see why a lot of their good workers took the voluntary before.

Intel is going through a phase right now where they are trimming a lot of fat. They had duplicate work being done through out the company and they are finally centralizing a lot of that. Unfortunately that means for a lot of good engineers that were doing exciting development work are just copy/pasting + modifying something else these days. Intel isn't going anywhere but a lot of their talent is leaving the place. This layoff though was not targeting that talent.
 
Ur_Mom said:
The new Intel i7 series. Install heatsink top to CPU, would you kindly sir. If overheat, kindly refer to Intel sheet for data. If not working, we replace unit for you.

Joking aside, it's just layoffs. I think people are reading too much into it with the recent diversity investment and now the layoffs. I don't think they are related. If they are, Intel is dumb (they aren't) and would be facing some lawsuits. I just don't see them doing that. I don't think it has anything to do with race, sexism, or any kind of diversity stuff... They are just trimming the fat to become more profitable, as usual for business.
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Nooooo, we have to go full Ducman69 on it by proclaiming racial injustice without any supporting facts or credible measurements so its possible to feel justified in being angry about our birth-assigned skin color and/or gender.

Yes, it's no possible to Ducman69 something. :)
 
When is the last major case you can think of where someone successfully sued a corporation for discriminating against them because they were a white male? In so many years in so many cases, the only one I have ever heard of was a settlement because HR was stupid enough to actually say "there's too many white boys and we need to fill the position with a black female". Short of such blatant buffoonery, they simply aren't vulnerable to litigation, and receive tremendous applause lately from the public, special interest groups, and most importantly the government. In fact, by demonstrating that they give preferential treatment to minorities for hiring/advancement/etc they actually make themselves much less vulnerable to the more common discrimination lawsuit claims by minorities and dedicated minority action groups like the NAACP, American Association of Blacks in Energy, Black Business Women of America, National Black Business Council, and so forth that have funds and personnel set aside specifically to sue businesses.
 
The Severance package looks pretty generous to me...1 month notice, 8 Weeks Pay, 16 weeks Cobra as a base? Pretty solid.

I got a firm handshake, and 2 weeks and dissolution of my Non-Compete agreements. Had to fight for Back Due Holiday / On-Call Payments (another 4 weeks worth of Salary was owed).

Lucky me though. Locked in a new Job within 2 weeks with a 50% base salary bump. Bonus Comp was 20% more as well. Pretty much turned a crappy situation into Funemployment until my start date.

Even more amusing when I found out my termination order came from upper management. My former employer didn't realize that I and other terminated colleagues performed most of the new hire onboarding and hands-on technical training during their first few weeks. Not a lot of documentation due to the nature of our work.

The number of letters, voicemails, and friends from the company contacting us was staggering. Salary Match Offers, 20% over new salary offers, retention agreements, promotion offers. Even offers to work before our new start dates at 4x our normal rate. None of the terminated employees took them up...
 
Well, they conveniently forgot to mention that money would be spent over the next 100-200 years. Most of it far in the future when 1 million is a yearly income from McDonalds.
 
Ducman69 said:
When is the last major case you can think of where someone successfully sued a corporation for discriminating against them because they were a white male? In so many years in so many cases, the only one I have ever heard of was a settlement because HR was stupid enough to actually say "there's too many white boys and we need to fill the position with a black female". Short of such blatant buffoonery, they simply aren't vulnerable to litigation, and receive tremendous applause lately from the public, special interest groups, and most importantly the government. In fact, by demonstrating that they give preferential treatment to minorities for hiring/advancement/etc they actually make themselves much less vulnerable to the more common discrimination lawsuit claims by minorities and dedicated minority action groups like the NAACP, American Association of Blacks in Energy, Black Business Women of America, National Black Business Council, and so forth that have funds and personnel set aside specifically to sue businesses.
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You're making this injustice claim based on the idea that there might be some unfairness in who specifically Intel is laying off (based on gender and race) which is information you don't have at your disposal. Therefore, you're getting upset at something that you think happens in general by using a specific company's action as a trigger without being able to determine the details of the specific action. It's sorta like proclaiming that all teddy bears are out to get you when the one that fell from the top shelf in your closet landed on the floor with you deciding, without cause, that the bear actually hit you on the head even though it didn't.
 
I'm starting to think a black guy was mean to Ducman once and he took it reeeeeeeally personally.
 
If you have a job, your future is not safe.
Get a few friends and build something society can use.

Kyle built [H], no one can lay him off from a job.
 
Ducman69 said:
When is the last major case you can think of where someone successfully sued a corporation for discriminating against them because they were a white male? In so many years in so many cases, the only one I have ever heard of was a settlement because HR was stupid enough to actually say "there's too many white boys and we need to fill the position with a black female". Short of such blatant buffoonery, they simply aren't vulnerable to litigation, and receive tremendous applause lately from the public, special interest groups, and most importantly the government. In fact, by demonstrating that they give preferential treatment to minorities for hiring/advancement/etc they actually make themselves much less vulnerable to the more common discrimination lawsuit claims by minorities and dedicated minority action groups like the NAACP, American Association of Blacks in Energy, Black Business Women of America, National Black Business Council, and so forth that have funds and personnel set aside specifically to sue businesses.
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Do you really think Intel are looking to hire more Afro-Americans? It's apart of their push but very small.
The people they want maybe the same skin tone, but their background isn't from Africa.
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
You're making this injustice claim based on...
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Based on the company's recent actions that hint at its current priorities and culture, since they are doing widespread layoffs now (as if they don't have money) just weeks after pledging $300 million to workplace diversity and another $125 million for tech firms led by women and minorities. You can't change the racial/gender makeup of a company drastically unless you are massively growing the employee base, which they aren't, without making room for said target groups by laying off the "over-represented" employees.
 
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