Intel is planning to reduce its workforce by five percent over the course of 2014. The news came down the pipeline just a day after the chip maker revealed fourth quarter and yearly financial results which aren't expected to improve this year.
With 107,000 employees currently on the payroll, a five percent reduction would equate to roughly 5,350 people losing their jobs this year. Intel spokesperson Chris Kraeuter said the reductions were designed to realign and refocus the company's resources but failed to outline exactly which departments would be affected.
Chief financial officer Stacy Smith said in a recent interview that Intel has a long history of redeployment of resources and they will be making significant new investments in data centers, tablets, low-power chips and the Internet of things. As for data centers, Smith expects growth of between 10 to 15 percent - and probably on the bottom end of those estimates.
As the largest producer of chips for personal computers, Intel has suffered through the continued decline in PC sales just as OEMs have. The increase in popularity of tablets and smartphones are to blame. According to recent data from Gartner, shipments dropped 6.9 percent during the fourth quarter of 2013 as the market suffered its worst year ever.
Intel said the past few months have shown signs of stabilizing compared to a year ago but at the same time, net profit was down 13 percent year over year.