Intel and Job Security

The press coverage and speculation about the Intel job cuts has been interesting. The Open Culture blog is my fun project (outside of work), so I rarely blog about my job, but I decided to make an exception in this case. According to ZDNet,

Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini is expected to announce a massive layoff as soon as Tuesday that could eliminate as many as 10,000 jobs.

...

The job cut is likely to 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, the sources said. (Quote from ZDNet)

At this point, I hope that we get some clarity on Tuesday. Knowing about upcoming job cuts and / or re-orgs causes a lot of internal thrash, rumors, and too many people putting work on hold while they see how things shake out.

Personally, I am not really worried. Intel is a good company to work for, but there are plenty of other good companies to work for. The reality is that job security no longer exists in today's environment. The best thing we can do is continue to learn new skills and actively work to evolve our areas of expertise staying aligned with the constantly changing technological environment allowing us to remain valuable in our current jobs or as we move on to the next project. I like to think that I would quickly land on my feet if I happen to be one of the speculated 10,000 employees.