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Chaos reigns at Intel India
By ST Team
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Thursday, 07 September 2006, 19:30 IST
BANGALORE: A cloud of uncertainty seems to be over Intel India, two days after the worldÂ’s leading chipmaker announced its plans to restructure the organization, implying layoffs of about 10,500 employees globally at a managerial level by the end of this year.
Intel is trying to ward off assumptions on the possibility of its India center facing similar downsizing. Set up in 1998, the India center has a current headcount of almost 3000. Despite Intel India President, Franklin JonesÂ’s assurances to all its employees to dispel the rumors, sources informed that a sense of panic and insecurity has enveloped the India center after a leading daily reported that Intel possibly planned to lay off a major portion of its employees in India.
An Economic Times report quotes Jones’ as saying: “India is a key market for us as it is considered a growing economy. When all IT companies are positioning their strategy with India in focus, we cannot look the other way.”
When The Smart Techie contacted senior mangers at Intel India, some presented an unsure picture of the on goings, while many were unwilling to disclose any information or comment, citing strict disciplinary action, that has in fact been reinforced by the company in the past week. Many even remarked that the media was making a mountain out of a molehill.
Few officials did indicate obvious repercussions in the country; SI learnt from a reliable source that marketing executives have started receiving mails stating a drastic downsizing in the companyÂ’s India center.
Speculations have it that some employees are already on track toward greener pastures, many in rival companies. Commenting on the situation, a country manager of a competitor remarked that though the recruitment drive has remained normal, ‘inflow of enquires about openings’ in the company have increased in the past week.