Intel 'restructuring' to render 6,000 jobless

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Intel Corporation disclosed on Wednesday plans to close or stop production at five of its manufacturing facilities, which could affect nearly 6,000 employees of the organization.

The world's largest semiconductor company said it would 'restructure some of its manufacturing operations and align its manufacturing capacity to current market conditions.'

The company plans to close two existing assembly test facilities in Penang, Malaysia and one in Cavite, Philippines, and will halt production at Fab 20, an older 200mm wafer fabrication facility in Hillsboro, Ore.

Additionally, wafer production operations will end at the D2 facility in Santa Clara, said an Intel statement.

The closings will take place in 2009 and could affect between 5,000 and 6,000 employees once all of Intel's plans are finalized. As of now, Intel has more than 83,000 employees worldwide.

The 'restructuring' announcement comes more than a week after Intel released its Q4 financial results.

Though the company had made a profit during the quarter, its revenues were below earlier expectations, which prompted it to consolidate and streamline some older capacity.

However, Intel said this will not affect the production of 45-nanometer and 32-nanometer manufacturing capacity.