Intel to lay off 12,000 employees worldwide

Intel Corporation has announced it will be axing 12,000 positions globally as part of a restructuring initiative.

The restructuring aims to accelerate the company's evolution from a PC company to one that powers the cloud and billions of smart computing devices.

"Intel will intensify its focus in high-growth areas where it is positioned for long-term leadership, customer value and growth, while making the company more efficient and profitable," the leading PC-chip maker said in a statement.

While increasing efficiency, the company plans to up investments in products and technologies that will fuel revenue growth and drive more profitable mobile and PC businesses.

The above changes are expected to result in up to 12,000 redundancies globally - about 11% of Intel's employees - by mid-2017 via site consolidations, departures (voluntary and involuntary), as well as a re-evaluation of programmes.

The company revealed that a majority of these actions will be communicated to affected staff over the next two months with some actions spanning in to 2017.

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Outlining the restructuring initiative to employees in an email, Intel's CEO Brian Krzanich wrote: "These are not changes I take lightly. We are saying goodbye to colleagues who have played an important role in Intel’s success. We are deeply committed to helping our employees through this transition and will do so with the utmost dignity and respect."

“Our results over the last year demonstrate a strategy that is working and a solid foundation for growth,” said Krzanich. “The opportunity now is to accelerate this momentum and build on our strengths."

The company revealed that it plans to focus on its data center and Internet of Things (IoT) businesses - Intel’s primary growth engines which delivered $2.2 billion in revenue growth last year, making up 40% of revenue and the majority of its operating profit, which significantly offset the decline in its PC market segment.

"Today’s announcement is about accelerating our growth strategy. And it’s about driving long-term change to further establish Intel as the leader for the smart, connected world," Krzanich added. "I am confident that we’ll emerge as a more productive company with broader reach and sharper execution.

Intel expects the program to deliver $750 million in savings this year and annual run rate savings of $1.4 billion by mid-2017. The company will record a one-time charge of approximately $1.2 billion in the second quarter.

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