COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio's top union leader is disappointed and concerned following Intel's announcement of significant layoffs, which could affect the state's multi-billion-dollar manufacturing plant. The corporation refused to answer any of our questions on how this could impact the state.
"The last 100 days have been very concerning for me," said Mike Knisley, with the Ohio State Building and Construction Trades Council.
Thousands of union workers and billions of dollars — stalled.
"A lot of sweat, equity into making sure that they were ready when Intel barked — we're ready to move with this," Knisley said. "That's a little bit of a disappointment... I just don't know in present time if that's gonna be viable or not."
We’ve been reporting for years on tech giant Intel’s massive semiconductor manufacturing facility — one that was supposed to be operational by now — and its financial hardships.
Knisely explained that workers are concerned now that the company has announced it will lay off a significant amount of its workforce, less than a year after cutting 15%. Bloomberg News reported 20%, but the company didn't respond to comment on that number.
"It shows where the company is financially," the union leader said. "I just think it was just too much with not enough money in the pot."
These problems have only been exacerbated by the tariff war President Donald Trump is proposing, he added. Also, Trump told congressional lawmakers that he wanted them to repeal the CHIPS Act, which brought Intel to Ohio.
Intel's stock has dropped by more than 50% in the last year, while the industry has grown by more than 120%. After spending 25 years on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Intel was replaced on the index by Nvidia, a leader in artificial intelligence, in late November. The company also had mass layoffs in October, cutting 15,000 jobs.
An Intel spokesperson declined to answer any of our questions about how this could impact Ohio but guided us to Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan's statement, which said, in part: “We are navigating an increasingly volatile and uncertain macroeconomic environment... We are seen as too slow, too complex, and too set in our ways—and we need to change.”
Still, Gov. Mike DeWine remains positive that the plant will be built by Intel’s updated date — in the 2030s.
"They put now close to $8 billion into the ground," DeWine said last week. "There's going to be chips that are going to be made there, I will guarantee you that."
But he acknowledged the struggles the company is facing.
"What happens with Intel, what the future is with Intel — we certainly don't know," the governor said.
They are not the only major corporation cutting the work of thousands of Ohio workers. Microsoft recently stopped a $1 billion project to create multiple data centers in the state. I reached out to the company with questions but didn't hear back.
"It would be a bad look for all of Ohio, including us with the trades, if everything went south and they just walked away," Knisely said about Intel.
Still, the governor is telling Knisely not to worry.
"No company is going to invest as much money as they have already put into Ohio and walk away from it," DeWine said.
Only time will tell.
"Everybody feels that sense of loss, or potential 'What could have been,'" Knisely said.
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