Intel may offer voluntary redundancy to 400 in Ireland

Intel began one-on-one meetings with Irish staff on Tuesday evening detailing the terms of redundancy pay on offer under the technology giant's plans to lay off hundreds of workers here.

Indications are that the company may be prepared offer voluntary redundancy to between 350 and 400 employees here , though there was no comment yesterday from the company or the IDA and the exact numbers are likely to depend on the response to the voluntary offer.

It is understood that workers availing of the redundancy can expect to receive the equivalent of roughly five weeks’ salary for every year of service on top of a statutory entitlement to two weeks’ pay.

This would mark a slightly weaker offer than the six weeks’ pay, plus statutory redundancy payments, given to employees who took part in the group’s last major Irish layoff, 2009. However, there have been some smaller rounds since then at the lower payoff level.

Intel has about 4,500 employees and about 700 long-term contract workers in Ireland, mainly in the chipmaker's largest site in Europe, outside Leixlip, Co. Kildare. Some 250 people work at a research and development facility in Shannon, Co Clare, and a further 350 in Cork.

While Intel managers in Ireland began telling some staff on Tuesday of the plans, most employees are only set to have discussions with their bosses on Wednesday. Intel said last month that it was planning to shed 12,000 jobs globally, equivalent to about 11 per cent of its workforce, amid a decline in demand for personal computers.

Applying the planned global job cuts on a pro-rata basis, Intel Ireland could expect to shed more than 550 staff and contractors, but, as The Irish Times has previously reported, it is understood the final number will be short of this. However Intel is not thought likely to confirm any numbers for Ireland in the short term.