Intel plans to lay off 20% of its workforce, according to a report from Bloomberg News. This would come on the heels of earlier layoffs last August. But Gov. Mike DeWine, whose administration encouraged the computer chip maker to build a manufacturing facility in Licking County, said he’s confident in the deal that brought the company to Ohio.
Intel is in the process of building two new $28 billion chip-making facilities in Central Ohio. And DeWine said Wednesday afternoon that he believes that will still happen.
"They put out close to $8 billion into the ground and there's going to be chips that are going to be made there. I will guarantee you that. They're not going to walk away from it," DeWine said.
DeWine said he hasn't spoken with the company since announcing the most recent round of layoffs. But, he said the question is not if but when chip production will begin at the new Ohio facility.
"The question has always been the timing. They gave us one dates but actually it was a range of dates initially. We hope sooner rather than later but there are going to be chips that will be made there," DeWine said.
Intel's central Ohio project was hailed as the largest public-private partnership in state history when it was announced in early 2022. The company broke ground on its manufacturing plant on Sept. 9, 2022, promising 7,000 construction jobs, 3,000 direct fab jobs, and thousands more indirect jobs. But the project has been slowed down by delays, including the latest announcement in February in which Intel pushed back the date to finish one fabrication plant to 2030 and the second to 2031. Neither will come online until at least 2031.
The bipartisan federal CHIPS Act was slow in giving Intel more than #7 billion. And the political headwinds for chip manufacturing changed when President Trump took office, along with a Republican Congress. Trump declared in a speech to that body in March that the $50 billion CHIPS Act was "a horrible, horrible idea". The company has also been hit with economic uncertainty, with CEO Pat Gelsinger retiring last year.
DeWine has said repeatedly he's confident in Intel's ability to deliver on the project, despite calls from some lawmakers for the state to try to claw back some funds that have been earmarked for the project. The state has already doled out $600 million in onshoring grants to the tech giant for its Ohio plants. A DeWine spokesman has said Ohio would only claw back incentives if Intel pulled the plug all together.
