Intel’s Workforce Overhaul: Data-Driven Insights into Its Transformation

Intel plans to cut 21,000 jobs as part of a sweeping transformation that reflects the broader industry's shift toward AI readiness and leaner operations. This article uses workforce intelligence data to decode Intel’s strategic moves and what they signal about the future of work.

How Intel’s Workforce Strategy Reflects the Future of AI-Driven Transformation

This week, Intel is expected to announce plans to lay off more than 21,000 employees, nearly 20% of its global workforce. It's the latest chapter in a dramatic transformation at the storied chipmaker, and it’s raising significant questions about the future of work, technology leadership, and survival in the age of AI.

But the story goes far beyond the numbers.

Led by new CEO Lip-Bu Tan, a veteran of engineering-driven turnarounds, Intel is making aggressive shifts. The company has already shed tens of thousands of roles over the past year, spun off non-core units, and is now refocusing its business around leading-edge semiconductors and AI. This is about more than cutting costs, but rather about rebuilding Intel’s digital readiness at scale and reestablishing its competitive edge in a world that no longer waits for legacy players to catch up.

Intel’s planned shift is not an outlier, but reflects a broader realignment toward digital readiness and AI integration across the industry.  According to McKinsey, 92% of executives plan to increase their investments in AI over the next three years, with 55% expecting a rise of at least 10%. 

Want real-time workforce insights like these? Book a demo with Aura to see how data reveals hidden trends in hiring, attrition, and sentiment across 20M+ companies.

Intel’s Workforce in Transition: Real-Time Data from Aura

Aura’s workforce intelligence platform provides a real-time view into Intel’s organizational health. Here's what stands out from our latest workforce insights:

• Hiring has slowed dramatically in strategic technical functions, even as competitors expand AI-focused roles globally.

• Attrition is elevated among the engineering function, particularly in software, data, and chip design functions, which are critical to innovation.

• Intel’s organizational structure shows initial signs of having bloated management layers, with executive-to-engineer ratios lagging behind those of its peers who have adopted flatter, faster organizational models. After the expected layoff, these numbers are likely to change dramatically. 

• Sentiment data across areas like leadership, career development, and workplace culture still appears strong, and improving over the past few months. Even with hungry competitors vying for their talent, this should prove a positive trend for Intel.

In the top talent destinations chart below, we can also see where talent outflows are heading, with top competitors including Nvidia, AMD, Microsfot, and Qualcomm. 

The past year has seen Intel struggle not only with its financial performance but also with retaining and attracting top talent in a fiercely competitive industry. Its efforts to innovate and scale in areas like AI, healthcare chips, and manufacturing services hinge not just on technical prowess, but on the strength and resilience of its workforce.

Lip-Bu Tan’s Playbook: Reinventing Intel’s Culture for AI Readiness

Intel’s transformation isn’t just structural—it’s cultural. Tan is known for building organizations that value speed, collaboration, and product innovation over bureaucracy. His engineering-driven culture emphasizes rapid iteration, lean management, and digital readiness. His response to Intel’s challenges is rooted in a clear philosophy: reduce layers, restore engineering leadership, and create a culture where critical knowledge is shared, not siloed.

The goal is to shift Intel’s focus from internal complexity to external impact: helping customers, businesses, and countries develop the digital infrastructure the world increasingly depends on.

Under Tan, Intel is also investing in programs that support workplace transformation: expanding career development tracks, increasing access to digital tools for frontline employees, and creating pathways for innovation across key projects. These are not fringe efforts, they’re fundamental to building the kind of organization that can lead the next wave of semiconductor advancement.

This focus on internal transformation is critical: 69% of CEOs now anticipate that generative AI will require most of their workforce to reskill, according to PwC’s AI Jobs Barometer. Programs that equip employees to innovate, adapt, and collaborate are becoming foundational, not optional.

Why Intel’s Shift Reflects the Future of Work

Intel’s shift represents more than a pivot by one company;  it’s a signal to employers across the tech and industrial sectors. In today’s environment, leading with data, talent, and agility is no longer optional.

In a world shaped by AI adoption, global talent flows, and the ongoing redefinition of work, organizations must rethink how they approach their people. The companies that succeed will be those that don’t just restructure, but that rebuild smarter.

The pace of this shift is accelerating. Microsoft reports that 75% of knowledge workers now use AI on the job, nearly double the adoption rate from just six months ago. This explosion in AI usage is redefining how work gets done and which companies stay ahead.

And this is where Aura plays a vital role. Our platform gives organizations the ability to see ahead, offering real-time data on hiring, skills, attrition, sentiment, and workforce composition across 20 million companies. Whether you're advising on strategic workforce planning, expanding into new markets, or evaluating a target’s operational health during due diligence, Aura delivers the insights that help you move with confidence.

What Intel’s Overhaul Means for the Future of Work

Intel’s planned announcement this week is a moment of reckoning and of potential reinvention. While the job cuts are significant, the deeper story is about how Intel responds, how it chooses to collaborate across borders, support employees through the transition, and build a culture that can sustain innovation at scale.

As Intel expands into areas like healthcare chips, AI tools, and advanced packaging, the company’s ability to scale a digitally ready workforce becomes mission-critical.

If done right, Tan’s reorganization could mark the beginning of a new era—one where Intel doesn’t just compete in the chip business, but leads again. But getting there will require making hard choices, using smart data, and an unwavering commitment to creating a healthier and more adaptive workplace. Aura will be watching closely and helping other leaders do the same.

Whether you’re advising clients, managing portfolios, or evaluating risk, Aura equips you with foresight, not just hindsight. Book a free demo to explore how workforce intelligence can drive smarter, faster decisions.