Intel job cuts become clearer

INTEL ANNOUNCED 10,500 job cuts a few weeks ago, but was extraordinarily vague about where they were coming from. We heard whispers here and there, and now those whispers are starting to get louder.

The first is at Intel Capital where its boss, Arvind Sodhani, said the cuts will be relatively minor. That's not what we have heard, concentrated on specific areas of Intel Capital maybe, but I doubt you can count to the layoffs there on your hands and feet even if you are blessed with extra toes.

Next up brings us to Sales and Marketing which is overdue for a good whacking. Since the disastrous rebranding of 2006, things have only been going downhill there. When you demote the head of an organization and replace him with the two people who were in his new position, that sends quite a message.

The sooner they can clear out the geniuses who brought you leaping people under a tree to signify server productivity, the better. I won't get into the whole 'core' pablum or the utterly rancid misnaming schemes for the new CPUs, but if they take it out back and shoot it, I will buy the responsible person dinner at a good Scottish restaurant. If you want a good example of the marketing message sent here, go look up the launch campaign for the Infiniti car company. The more 'Old Yellers' they pull here the better.

Next up comes the most troubling, Intel will cut R&D in Oregon. We are not sure how deep this will go, but anything here is disturbing. Intel is in a fight for its life with AMD right now, and this is at the heart of its competitive edge. If Intel does anything more than a cursory cleaning out of dead wood here, it could signify a much deeper malaise at the company.

Overall, the cuts were where we expected them, but the strongly hinted at cutting of only non-technical people doesn't hold water any more. Between India and Oregon, it looks like there is little that will be left untouched, let us hope it is as smart about it on a micro level as it should be. µ