HIGH levels of remote working are said to be a major part of the reason that Intel Research & Development is to close in Shannon by the end of September 2025.
A company spokesperson said that at present the Shannon premises reaches 40% occupancy on just one day a week, with all the other days having even lower levels of occupancy.
While the premises is closing, the jobs are not being axed, and as yet the company are not sure what adjustments will be made. The spokesperson said that there may be a move to hot desking in another location, for certain people at certain times.
She said that at present decisions on remote working at Shannon are made manager by manager, and currently there are overall high levels of remote work, significantly diminishing the need for it to maintain the building.
In a statement to the Clare Champion, Intel said, “We are shifting our global real estate strategy to focus on fewer, more populated locations. We are still working through plans for each business unit, some employees may transition to different locations or move to remote work arrangements. We will provide more detailed information in coming months.”
Globally Intel has made significant cuts in recent years and last month it announced plans to cut its overall workforce by around 15%. Access to a redundancy scheme has already been offered to Irish workers, with approved employees set to depart before the end of this month.
According to its most recently filed accounts the Shannon-based Intel Research & Development made a profit of US$40.3 million dollars in 2022.
The amount spent on wages and salaries was over $79.6 million, with social welfare costs of $10.76 million and pension costs of almost $14 million.
The company employed an average of 745 people throughout the year, with 691 working in research and development and another 54 in management and administration (including sales and marketing). The number employed was up by 80 on 2021.
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.