Intel expected to unveil huge layoffs

Intel is expected to unveil a massive layoff as soon as Tuesday that could eliminate thousands of jobs, according to a pair of published reports.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker, having suffered several financially disappointing quarters, launched an internal analysis in April to find ways to increase its efficiency.

The company is slated to disclose the results of the analysts, including the layoff, after the markets close on Tuesday, according to CNET News.com, which was the first to report the story on its website last night.

Estimates of potential job losses range from 10,000 to 20,000, people with knowledge of the plans told CNET and The Wall Street Journal. Intel has about 100,000 employees worldwide.

Chuck Mulloy, an Intel spokesman, would not comment on what he characterized as ``speculation."

But he told the Journal that results of an internal efficiency study would at least be disclosed by the end of September.

``We have committed to reporting on the restructuring before the end of the third quarter," he said. ``We are on track to do that."

The job cuts could weigh particularly heavily on marketing staff.

Intel studies comparing its own staffing levels to competitors' concluded that the ratio of marketing personnel to salespeople was too large, sources told CNET.

Mark Edelstone, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, put the reductions at 15,000 to 20,000, but said those figures include the impact of planned and future sales of business units, as well as layoffs.

He told the Journal that such cuts would put Intel's total head count back in the range of 2004, before a recent hiring binge.