"Most of us have been coasting at work the last year, because we know he's retiring, whether by choice or because he's forced out," admitted one of the longtime staffers.
The ongoing situation in the tech company mirrors the recent controversy involving the Coldplay concert, highlighting the ramifications of personal relationships within a professional setting.
The mood was very bleak. Some people were upset about financial outcomes or colleagues leaving, while others were worried about the future. A few were in tears, and the Q&A had been understandably hostile.
New CEO Lip-Bu Tan has warned Intel's in a bit of a bind - its x86 dominance is fading, the company is nowhere in GPU, and the plan to offer foundry services to other chip design companies hasn't set the world on fire - so the layoffs are another step in its goal of cutting headcount by 20 percent and reducing costs.