As Intel faces financial difficulties, strong restructuring under former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Pat Gelsinger, and the cancellation of various projects, major personnel are leaving the company, while parts subsidiaries, including Samsung Electronics, are ramping up efforts to recruit talent. In particular, veteran engineers who have conducted research on next-generation technologies such as semiconductor advanced packaging technology, glass substrates, and back-side power delivery (BSPDN) at Intel for a long time are the primary targets.
According to industry sources on the 20th, Intel has seen a wave of personnel departures as it cancels projects and investments initiated during Pat Gelsinger's tenure and enters large-scale restructuring, with some moving to subsidiaries in the United States such as Samsung Electronics and Samsung Electro-Mechanics. Previously, Intel announced a goal to cut about 75,000 employees this year, a significant portion of which is reportedly already underway.
Among those leaving are key engineers in technology fields where Intel has made long-term investments, prompting many semiconductor corporations to extend job offers. Reports indicate that Samsung Electronics is also actively working to attract talent as it expands its workforce in the United States, including its foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) plants and research and development efforts.
In fact, an authority-level engineer in Intel's proprietary 2.5D chip packaging technology, the Embedded Multi-Die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB), transitioned to Samsung Electronics' foundry division this year. Researchers in business areas that Samsung's semiconductor division considers next projects, including glass substrates and BSPDN, are also reported to be targets for recruitment.
A source familiar with Samsung said, "We are actively hiring packaging process engineers with over 10 years of experience, and we are keenly seeking engineers who can demonstrate their human expertise in areas where Samsung has relatively less experience," adding that "this is an opportunity to recruit ace-level talent across various fields, including back-side power delivery and glass substrates."
Gang Duan, a lead engineer known as the 'ace' of Intel's semiconductor packaging technology, recently moved to Samsung Electro-Mechanics. He is expected to oversee technology marketing and application engineering at Samsung Electro-Mechanics' U.S. corporation in the future. The transition of top engineers from Intel to Samsung Electro-Mechanics is highly unusual, highlighting the severity of Intel's talent exodus.
Industry observers predict that Intel will continue to see personnel losses as it cancels or reduces previously announced foundry-related investments and plans for new factories. CEO Pat Gelsinger previously noted, "Unfortunately, the investment in production capacity that Intel made over the past few years has been an excessive investment that vastly exceeds demand, and it cannot be considered prudent," indicating that the direction of next-generation technology development will be adjusted.
However, advice has also emerged from within and outside Samsung to focus on 'filtering out the best' according to the division's manpower demands. A senior official at Samsung commented, "Instead of blindly scouting based solely on the Intel brand, a careful process to select individuals suited to the needed processes is essential," adding that "since Intel has a rich talent pool with extensive research in all semiconductor processes, we should seek ways for large-scale workforce reductions to benefit Samsung."