Life after Intel: After rounds of layoffs and buyouts, some Intel insiders are abandoning the corporate grind altogether

• After years of struggles, spot elephantine Intel is successful nan midst of wide layoffs and buyouts.
• Some longtime Intel labor are eligible for up to 19 months of severance.
• The buyouts are prompting labor to research caller ventures amid manufacture challenges.

When searching for a wedding planner, astir couples don't cheque for a doctorate. But nan brides of greater Portland are astir to person that option.

Shi Choong sewage her Ph.D. successful Analytical Chemistry successful 2018, and for nan past six and a half years she's worked astatine Intel improving processes and training for nan company's Oregon fab — a mill wherever Intel's chips are produced. She's 1 of nan thousands of Intel labor who precocious took nan voluntary severance packages nan institution made disposable up of a long-forecasted information of 15,000 layoffs and buyouts, which began this month.

After years of layoffs, buyouts, and moreover one impermanent salary cut, galore labor person thought astir what they mightiness do aft Intel. Its severance package, which reportedly offers 5 weeks of salary for each twelvemonth of work up to 19 months total, pushed immoderate to jump.

Though plentifulness of Intel alums are expressing trepidation astir an uncertain occupation market, immoderate departing Intel insiders are fashioning wholly caller lives for themselves — 180 degrees from firm life.

Choong has been coordinating weddings and modeling extracurricular of her Intel activity hours for nan past 3 years. She specializes successful nontraditional, heavy themed weddings. This kind of nerdery often goes manus successful manus pinch nan concentrated tech talent successful places for illustration nan San Francisco Bay area aliases Portland. She saw nan buyout opportunity and nan severance that came pinch it, arsenic a motion to return her broadside hustle full-time.

"To me, it's Christmas travel early. It's a wish travel true," Choong told Business Insider.

BI said to 3 erstwhile Intel labor who are utilizing nan company's difficult times arsenic an opportunity to upend their lives.

Intel lifers caput retired connected their own

"I'm emotion awesome," Javier Apostol told BI from nan pavilion of a beachside edifice successful Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, 2 weeks aft his past time arsenic a package applications engineering head astatine Intel.

He joined Intel successful Arizona correct aft finishing his undergraduate grade and stayed for astir 29 years. Intel was nan only institution he ever worked for arsenic an adult.

Apostol's first occupation was picking consequence successful nan fields of Yuma County, California, alongside his parents. Eventually, his dada started doing workforce improvement for migrants and past taxation mentation for Spanish-speaking workers and cultivation contractors.

When 1 of his dad's clients was audited, Apostol, who had started to study really to programme computers, turned handwritten mileage records into a neat chart. The IRS agents told him it was nan champion they'd ever seen, and Apostol sewage hooked connected computers.

Apostol joined Intel successful 1996. From wrong Intel, he's seen each shape of nan net since astir nan beginning. He said a longer lens gives him perspective.

Intel's situation is nary awesome tragedy, according to Apostol.

"The world is conscionable changing and that is good. Intel will yet find its spot wherever it needs to be," he said. After a vacation, Apostol is sticking pinch semiconductors, but he and immoderate colleagues are headed successful a much entrepreneurial direction.

Though Intel has struggled to support its erstwhile leading-edge status, Apostol said location is simply a window of creativity successful nan semiconductor abstraction that he hasn't seen successful a agelong clip arsenic investors and consumers alike go alert of nan captious domiciled of chips successful their mundane lives.

"Chip design is going to explode," Apostol said. He and 5 colleagues who besides took nan buyouts want to use their expertise successful chip-making consulting for businesses and moreover countries looking to participate nan industry.

At 54 years old, and pinch some of his kids successful assemblage and distant from home, he has nan clip and nan power to return nan leap, he said. He hopes Intel finds its measurement to akin boldness again.

"If I interest astir thing it's Intel becoming complacent and deciding to deliberation mini — to extremity looking for nan adjacent awesome thing," Apostol said.

Turning a bully surviving into a bully retirement

Sumit Guha, a erstwhile transportation exertion head astatine Intel, is founding a caller task too, but pinch much altruistic aims.

Over his 24 years astatine Intel, Guha utilized his spare clip to create a wealthiness guidance strategy based connected nan philosophies of Warren Buffet.

He's shared his strategy pinch friends and colleagues complete nan years, but it wasn't until his 86-year-old mother was sold a fraudulent security argumentation that he considered scaling his efforts up. He fought for 2 years to get her money back, and that wasn't nan first clip his parents had been nan victims of dubious financial providers.

"My extremity is to thatch seniors really to observe financial fraud. I person witnessed this myself. Old group are targets," Guha said. He plans to commencement studying to go a Certified Financial Planner soon, pinch nan purpose of providing free taxation services to older adults and yet starting a nonprofit statement that helps them negociate and turn their finances.

As Guha, 60, approaches status age, he's go progressively worried astir nan authorities of his peers' retirement accounts. AARP estimates that 20% of Americans complete nan property of 50 person nary status savings astatine all.

Intel still offers immoderate of nan benefits overmuch of nan tech world has agelong eschewed. For example, spreading retired nan timeline for paid sabbaticals has been 1 of nan perks downgraded successful nan existent era of cutbacks. But for Guha, immoderate of his longevity benefits pinch Intel person kicked successful recently, and nan institution accelerated banal grants group to beryllium issued successful December arsenic a 'thank you' for enduring 2023's salary cuts for those who took nan buyout option.

"It's a gift for maine to propulsion nan trigger now," Guha said. He plans to connection taxation services, financial fraud awareness, and finance proposal pinch nan purpose of helping Americans execute a safe and comfortable retirement, moreover if they started redeeming precocious successful nan game.

Lessons learned astatine Intel

Though respective departing Intel labor expressed immoderate vexation pinch nan existent authorities of nan company, they still judge it tin beryllium successful. And they're taking immoderate of nan values and skills they picked up location pinch them. The institution ever weighted continuous training, said Apostol.

Choong said galore of nan skills she learned astatine Intel will transportation to her caller life. Engineers are organized and bully astatine dealing pinch complexity — nan benignant that comes pinch a wedding that starts successful formalwear and ends pinch nan full statement wearing animal onesies, for example.

Choong besides learned really to speak up for herself astatine Intel, particularly erstwhile training successful nan fabs. This comes successful useful erstwhile dealing pinch sketchy wedding vendors, she said.

"I person grown tremendously. I utilized to outcry successful my agency because personification said loudly astatine me. I'm fearless now," Choong said.

Are you leaving Intel too? Or sticking around? Got a extremity aliases an penetration to share? Contact BI's elder newsman Emma Cosgrove astatine ecosgrove@businessinsider.com aliases usage nan unafraid messaging app Signal: 443-333-9088.