Intel to cut 4,000 jobs

<br>SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) _ Intel Corp., the chip-making giant that had managed to avoid mass layoffs during the technology downturn, said Tuesday it is cutting 4,000 jobs, or nearly 5 percent of its workforce.

Tuesday, July 16th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) _ Intel Corp., the chip-making giant that had managed to avoid mass layoffs during the technology downturn, said Tuesday it is cutting 4,000 jobs, or nearly 5 percent of its workforce.

The move came after the Silicon Valley company posted lower-than-expected second-quarter earnings. Demand for chips in personal computers has been weak, and Intel has been shedding unprofitable divisions that hosted Web sites and sold music players.

Intel, the world's largest semiconductor company, had 83,000 employees worldwide at the end of the first quarter, down from 86,000 at the end of 2000.

Unlike other high-tech companies during the past year, Intel escaped large-scale layoffs and instead cut discretionary spending and postponed raises. Last year, however, the company said it was cutting 5,000 jobs mostly through attrition.

For the three months ended June 29, the company said it earned $446 million, or 7 cents a share. Analysts were expecting second-quarter profits of 11 cents per share on sales of $6.35 billion, according to a survey by Thomson Financial/First Call.