Chipmaker Intel Corp is planning a major reduction in headcount, likely numbering in the thousands, in the face of a slowdown in the personal computer market, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people with knowledge of the situation.

The layoffs will be announced as early as this month and some of Intel's divisions, including the sales and marketing group, could see cuts affecting about 20 per cent of staff, according to the report.

The company had 113,700 employees as of July, Bloomberg News said.

Intel declined to comment on the job cuts.

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The company in July slashed its annual sales and profit forecasts after missing estimates for second-quarter results.

Decades-high inflation and the reopening of offices and schools have led people to spend less on PCs than they did during pandemic-related lockdowns.

Chipmakers are also under pressure from Covid-19 curbs in key PC market China and the Ukraine conflict that have led to supply-chain snarls and also weighed on demand.

Intel's Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger released a memo to company employees on Tuesday outlining plans to create an internal foundry model for external customers and the company's product lines.

A foundry business builds chips that other companies design and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co is the top player in that space. Intel has mainly built chips it designed itself so far.

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