Intel overshoots job cuts by 700

NEW YORK: According to a filing by the firm, the company reduced its work force by 4,700 jobs or 5.6 percent in 2002.

Intel had said in July that it planned to cut 4,000 jobs, or 4.8 percent of its work force, primarily through attrition and voluntary separation programs.

Intel, which makes the microchips that are the brains of personal computers, finished 2002 with 78,700 employees, down from 83,400 at the end of 2001, according to the filing.

Intel, like other technology companies, has suffered in the last two years from slower economies, weak personal computer sales and the worst semiconductor downturn on record.

® Reuters