Intel shed more jobs in New Mexico

The Albuquerque Journal reports the number of full-time employees at Intel's Rio Rancho facility in New Mexico declined by 37 percent in 2016, from 1,900 workers in 2015 to a level of 1,200 at the end of 2016. About half of the 700 who left were workers who retired, most of the other half was relocated or chose a voluntary separation package. Further cuts may be ahead for the Rio Rancho plant as this facility still makes 32nm chips, which is a couple of generations old.

In fact, the reduction constitutes the sharpest annual decrease to date in direct, full-time employment at the plant since the company began laying off workers and reducing its head count through attrition in 2013. That year, the Sandoval County plant employed 3,300 people, meaning its salaried workforce has fallen by nearly two-thirds over the last four years.

The company still employs about 1,000 contract workers, about half of whom are generally on site daily to work on specific projects, Shipley said. But it’s not clear how many of those are full- or part-time workers.