Up to 2, 000 employees of Intel Corp’s Irish branch have been offered three months of unpaid leave as part of cost-cutting measures, the Business Post reported on Thursday.
According to the report, employees of Intel’s manufacturing division have been offered the unpaid leave as part of a “voluntary leave program” run by the company.
“Voluntary leave programs offer us the opportunity to reduce costs in the short term and provide employees with attractive leave opportunities,” Intel said in an email to Reuters.
Intel has nearly 5,000 employees in Ireland.
The move comes after the chipmaker lowered its profit and revenue forecast for the entire year in October and warned that staff would be laid off. Intel also said it would reduce its costs in the face of macroeconomic uncertainties.