Intel to cut 24,000 jobs in 2025, halt work on big factory projects

Intel is making some big and difficult changes. The company has announced it will let go of around 24,000 employees this year, that’s nearly one out of every four people who worked there at the end of 2024. The news came during Intel’s earnings report for the second quarter of 2025.

Intel says it will now focus on becoming smaller and more efficient, according to a report by The Verge. As part of this move, it’s cancelling major projects in Germany and Poland, where it had earlier planned to build huge factories that could have created thousands of jobs. In Costa Rica, the company is also shutting down part of its operations and moving that work to Vietnam. About 2,000 employees in Costa Rica will be affected, though many will stay on in other roles.

Intel’s new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, is the man behind these tough decisions. He took over during a challenging time for the company, which has been struggling to keep up with competitors, especially in the fast-growing world of artificial intelligence. He admitted that Intel spent too much money building new factories before making sure there was enough demand for the chips they’d produce.

“I don’t believe in building things and hoping customers will show up,” Tan said during a call with investors. “We will now only build what people actually need.”