Cavite – Some 1,800 Filipino workers lost their jobs early this week as Intel Philippines shutdown its entire operations in the country after 35 years.
Citing waning PC sales and the global financial crisis, Intel Corporation announced Wednesday it would cut 6,000 jobs and close several "underutilized" factories in Asia and United States.
The laid-off Filipino workers would be provided "transition services", including alternative livelihood seminars and training for new skills with the help of the Department of Labor, Arlita Narag, corporate affairs manager of Intel Philippines said. It is not clear though whether the company will help find jobs for the laid-off workers.
Intel Philippines produces chipsets for personal computers and networking devices. From a total of P444 million in December 2007, Narag said, the sales of Intel Philippines went down nearly by half to only over P250 million in December last year. Intel’s first factory in the country was established in 1974. The current factory and facilities in Cavite were built in 1996.
Four other plants in Malaysia, Hillsboro, Oregon and Santa Clara, California will be shut down, as part of Intel Corp’s cost-cutting measures.