It’s not every day that the president of the United States calls for the head of a major company to be fired. But that’s what happened last August, when President Donald Trump accused Lip-Bu Tan, the new CEO of Intel, of being too cozy with China.

Then in typical fashion, Trump reversed himself and proposed converting the $10.8 billion subsidy Intel had received from the CHIPS Act into an equity stake. Intel accepted the deal, and now the federal government owns a nearly 10 percent nonvoting stake in the company.

While much has been written about Intel’s financial and technical challenges, very little has been said about the impact of management’s cost cutting on the company’s employees.

In October 2024, Intel cut 15 percent of its global workforce, eliminating fifteen thousand positions. Then shortly afterward, the company gave its fired CEO, Pat Gelsinger, a $7,853,450 severance package.

Thus far, it has laid off 7,500 workers across four states. But Intel’s new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, isn’t feeling any pain. He’s getting $1 million a year and is eligible for bonuses of up to $2 million. His long-term stock options are valued at $66 million.

Studies on the impact of job loss have documented that layoffs increase the risk of suicide, substance-use disorders, poor physical and mental health, divorce, and homelessness. The impact extends to the communities where workers live: local businesses lose revenue, demand for social services increases, and local governments can see their tax bases crater.

With the government’s huge publicly financed stake in Intel, Intel communities have an opportunity to hold the company accountable for the impact of these job cuts on workers and their communities. When the federal government under Joe Biden awarded $10.86 billion to Intel in 2024, management agreed to a whole host of workforce development, environmental, and social policy goals — including a commitment to create ten thousand new jobs.

Obviously, Trump isn’t likely to force Intel to deliver on those commitments. However, the hope is that local grassroots organizing along with bipartisan pressure from elected officials will follow up on Intel’s promise to create ten thousand new jobs and provide other important community benefits.

To help build that movement, a dozen labor and environmental groups recently came together to form CHIPS Communities United (CCU). The coalition aims to hold the major semiconductor companies accountable for the billions of dollars they’ve received in public funds and tax credits. (Of the $52.7 billion appropriated by the CHIPS and Science Act, the Commerce Department has allocated $32.54 billion in grant awards and up to $5.85 billion in loans to thirty-two companies. Trump just announced Commerce would claw back $7.4 billion in research funding.)  

This Labor Day, CCU is launching Intel-Layoffs.org to track the extent of job losses at Intel and invite workers to join the campaign for good jobs in the semiconductor industry.

Layoffs provide a teachable moment regarding the benefits of collective bargaining and the value of a union contract. Typical job-security provisions provide an orderly process for reductions in staff. And just as importantly, most agreements spell out in writing a fair process for bringing back qualified laid-off employees by seniority.

As Intel works through its technical and marketing challenges, we must not lose sight of the human costs of its crisis and the company’s obligations to workers and their communities. As Intel’s public subsidies increase, workers and the public have even more reason to demand they treat their workers fairly.