Unclear if New Mexico jobs are on the chopping block as part of mass Intel layoffs

Intel Corp. said Thursday it plans to cut more than 15% of its workforce as it tries to turn its business around to compete with other chip manufacturers. But it’s unclear if those layoffs will impact the company’s New Mexico operations, which has greatly expanded in recent months with the completion of its Fab 9 factory in Rio Rancho.

An Intel spokesperson wrote in an email to the Journal that the company doesn’t expect Thursday’s layoffs announcement to impact planned investments in the U.S. The spokesperson didn’t respond to a question about layoffs in the company’s operations in New Mexico.

Sandoval County Manager Wayne Johnson said in a phone interview Friday his office has not been notified of any impending layoffs, which the company said will largely take place through the rest of the year.

A New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions spokeswoman said the state hasn’t received a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification — a 60-day notice sent ahead of plant closures or mass layoffs — from Intel. The spokeswoman, Stacy Johnston, said she also wasn’t aware of any communication between the department and Intel about potential layoffs of the company’s New Mexico workforce.

The news comes on the heels of Intel’s recent expansion of its Fab 9 factory in Rio Rancho, which is the site of the company’s 3D advanced packaging technology. The site, paired with Intel’s Fab 11X, focuses on stacking processors with compute tiles vertically instead of side by side — allowing the company and foundry customers to mix and match compute tiles as a way of optimizing costs.

That Fab 9 factory is part of a multi-billion-dollar investment by the company in New Mexico. It is also upgrading Fabs 11 and 11X in Rio Rancho, according to a company fact sheet.

The company in March announced a federal investment of up to $8.5 billion in direct funding from the federal CHIPS and Science Act and $11 billion in federal loans — money that is expected to go to New Mexico and other states, including Arizona, Ohio and Oregon — to help increase chip production in the U.S.

Intel employed about 3,080 full-time employees in the state with an estimated total compensation of $98.3 million — including salaries, bonuses, taxes and benefits — in the second quarter of 2024, according to a jobs report update sent as part of a Local Economic Development Act agreement with the state, city of Rio Rancho and Sandoval County.

Intel received $5.75 million in LEDA funding as part of its $3.5 billion Rio Rancho expansion, first announced in 2021, said state Economic Development Department Acting Secretary Mark Roper.

Johnson noted that employment number is an increase from the first quarter of this year, when there were 2,838 full-time employees with Intel in New Mexico and more than the 1,874 in April 2021 when the LEDA agreement first began.

“All the information that I have is that they’re still hiring at this plant,” Johnson said. “We’re optimistic that this isn’t going to have a huge impact on the Sandoval County plant.”

Intel announced the cuts — which will total roughly 15,000 jobs — in its second-quarter earnings report Thursday, which showed the company posted a loss of $1.6 billion, or 38 cents per share, in the April-June period. Intel’s stock was trading at around $21 Friday afternoon, down from $30.47 Thursday morning and $34.39 a year ago.

In a note sent to Intel employees following yesterday’s earnings report, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger wrote that it is an “incredibly hard day for Intel as we are making some of the most consequential changes in our company’s history.”

“These decisions have challenged me to my core, and this is the hardest thing I’ve done in my career,” Gelsinger wrote. “My pledge to you is that we will prioritize a culture of honesty, transparency and respect in the weeks and months to come.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.