While sales of personal computers continue to decline, Intel plans to reduce its global workforce by about 5% and refocus efforts on faster-growing areas. On Friday, an Intel company representative told Reuters’ news agency that the estimated 5,000 jobs could include retirements, voluntary programs or other options. The normal attrition rate for Intel is about 4% globally for the company.
“This is part of aligning our human resources to meet business needs,” Intel spokesman Chris Kraeuter said.
There may be several reasons for the slowdown in PC sales but the most notable is the migration of users to mobile tablets and smart devices, which Intel has little stake in currently. While Intel dominates the PC chip industry, where it shares a space with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), with declining PC sales both chip manufacturers are struggling over a steadily shrinking market.
