Intel Slashes Jobs and Projects in Major Reset to Regain Ground
Intel is undergoing a dramatic transformation in 2025, signaling a pivotal moment for the tech giant as it attempts to reclaim its dominance in the chip industry. After losing ground to Apple’s M-series chips, AMD’s resurgence, and the rise of Arm-based competitors and AI leaders like Nvidia, Intel is now in full reboot mode.
In its Q2 2025 earnings report, Intel laid bare its sweeping restructuring plans. New CEO Lip-Bu Tan is taking a no-nonsense approach-cutting costs, eliminating non-essential divisions, and placing sharp focus on strategic core operations. The company, which ended 2024 with nearly 110,000 employees, plans to shrink its workforce to 75,000 by the end of 2025. That’s a staggering 35,000 jobs slashed in just two years.
Major international manufacturing projects are also being axed. The long-hyped chip factory in Germany and the assembly plant in Poland have been permanently canceled. Even the $28 billion Ohio factory, once seen as a key piece of Intel’s future, has been delayed again.
“Our previous investments were excessive,” said CEO Lip-Bu Tan. “We overbuilt for demand that never came. Going forward, we’ll only grow with confirmed orders and deploy capital alongside tangible milestones.”
Tan is bringing a new level of hands-on leadership, even personally reviewing and approving every chip design. A seasoned veteran from Cadence, his aim is to bring back a “first time right” design philosophy-cutting down on costly mistakes and tightening execution across the board.
Intel CFO David Zinsner emphasized that the restructuring is already showing signs of financial improvement, with the sale of non-core assets and tighter capital efficiency strengthening Intel’s balance sheet.
Despite the cuts, Intel’s Core Ultra Series 2 with vPro continues to gain ground, offering performance, efficiency, and security for both desktops and laptops.
So what does this mean for consumers? In the near future, expect slower product refreshes and fewer new chip launches as Intel recalibrates. Meanwhile, rivals like AMD, Apple, and Qualcomm are expected to maintain momentum, particularly with the growing appeal of Arm and AI-accelerated chips.
However, if Tan’s strategy succeeds, the next generation of Intel chips could be smarter, leaner, and far more competitive-marking a bold return for the once-untouchable chip titan.