Intel Corporation (INTC) To Cut Jobs At Its Malaysian Plants

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Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) has decided to lay off a “relatively small” number of employees in Malaysia where the company has its assembly plants, according to Intel’s regional spokesman. Local media reported that Intel will slash around 300 jobs at it assembling plant in the Northern states of Penang and Kulim. However, no word came from Intel over reduction of workforce strength.Intel Corporation (INTC) To Cut Jobs At Its Malaysian Plants

Intel focuses on newer plants

“Like any other large organization, Intel continually optimizes its resources in line with its evolving business requirements,” said Nick Jacobs, Asia Pacific public relations director, in an email to The Wall Street Journal.

On the layoffs, Mr. Jacobs said, “We have recently conducted a one-off assessment intended to ensure that our workforce maintains the skills and competencies necessary for Intel’s evolving business requirements.” Intel will provide market-competitive packages to the laid off employees along with transition support.

The chipmaker disclosed in September its plan to close its oldest factory in Hudson Mass, which employs around 700 workers. Instead of concentrating on its old facilities, the company is focusing more on larger, newer factories in Arizona and Oregon, as well as plants in Ireland, Israel and China where the production processes are upgraded at regular intervals to add more features to the chips.

Malaysian plant important to Intel

In 1972, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) set up its first assembly line outside the United States in Penang, which has turned into its largest technology development centers in the world. In 1995, the Kulim facility was set up to manufacture motherboards.

The Malaysia design center has been a workplace to hundreds of software engineers, apart from assembly and testing. The center has added to Intel’s fourth generation processor known as Haswell, which was rolled over in June.  The facility also assisted substantially in the development of current and future generations of the Clover Trail, Bay Trail and Broadwell platforms.

Educational venture

Apart from focusing on core sectors, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) is also pushing into the education sector. Recently, the company acquired digital education startup Kno. John Galvin from Intel said that this acquisition increases company’s global digital content library to more than 225,000 higher education and K-12 titles through existing partnerships with 75 educational publishers. The executive added that, through the acquisition, Intel will take forward its mission of supporting rapid technology adoption in the classroom.

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