INTEL Philippines Will Cease

I just read this new clip (below) from a blog I have always been following - YUGATECH. I became suddenly uncomfortable on my seat. Big multinationals suffer the same fate as the small players. What bothers me is the number of families who will definitely be affected by retrenchment this year.

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Chuck Mulloy
Intel Corporation

Santa Clara, California, Jan. 21, 2009 – Intel Corporation today disclosed plans to restructure some of its manufacturing operations and align its manufacturing capacity to current market conditions. The company will consolidate and streamline some older capacity without impacting the deployment of new, leading-edge 45-nanometer and 32-nanometer manufacturing capacity.
The company plans to close two existing assembly test facilities in Penang, Malaysia and one in Cavite, Philippines, and will halt production at Fab 20 an older 200mm wafer fabrication facility in Hillsboro, Ore. Additionally, wafer production operations will end at the D2 facility in Santa Clara, Calif.
The actions at the four sites, when combined with associated support functions, are expected to affect between 5,000 and 6,000 employees worldwide. However, not all employees will leave Intel; some may be offered positions at other facilities. The actions will take place between now and the end of 2009.

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It is true that a probably acceptable retrenchment package will be provided by the company to its displaced employees. But for how long will this last? And the job market isn't really very friendly these days where "retrenchment", "redundancy", and "freeze hire" become the words of the day.

Unlike the case of EPIXTAR in Eastwood, Libis, Quezon City, the company suddenly closed its Philippine operations in Cavite (only Sales & Marketing will remain) without properly informing their employees, all of whom were at a loss and left in the dark. Worse, the employees later learned that their government contributions were not remitted despite the deductions made from their paychecks.

Life is truly getting harder by the day.