Intel, which maintains a research center and a mega laboratory in Costa Rica, initiated a series of dismissals this week, according to the company in a two-line statement.
The company warned, through its external press advisory, that it will not provide more details apart from the statement. Therefore, the total number of people impacted by this situation will not be specified.
The statement is attributed to the manager of Government Affairs and Public Relations of Intel Costa Rica, Timothy Scott Hall, and was disclosed as a reaction to publications of some media.
The document reads: “Changes in the workforce respond to the needs and priorities of the business as part of a global strategy, which is constantly being evaluated.”
Scott added in the statement, that they are currently focused on getting job opportunities within Intel for the people who impacted.
Although the company did not disclose the number of jobs to be cut, sources close to the Q say that some 200 employees are affected by the shutting down of its business units in the country, though it is not yet clear which unit(s) will be closed down.
From France, the Minister of Foreign Trade (Comex), Alexánder Mora, said that last Friday he had contact with Intel executives, but that he has no knowledge about these adjustments in the personnel, either on a global scale or of the impact in Costa Rica.
Intel established operations in Costa Rica in 1997, when the first stone of an assembly plant for high-tech products was laid. Its impact on exports began to grow and came to represent 20% of Costa Rican exports. At one point, Intel’s chip business accounted for nearly 6% of the country’s GDP.
In April 2014 it was officially known that the company would stop manufacturing in Costa Rica, but would maintain an R&D center and two information technology offices, providing a variety of IT support services to the company’s global operations.
That year, the company announced the layoff of 1,500 employees after the company shifted its Costa Rica-based microprocessor plant to Malaysia.
As of December 2017, Intel in Costa Rica employed 2,200, of which about 900 working for an R&D center, according to El Financiero.
Globally, Intel is struggling to re-balance its microprocessor business.
