Intel Corp (INTC)

[mmoy]

Probably $15B/year in salary and benefits.

The size of the charge will be massive.

I think that almost all of the posters here were familiar with IBM's problems but a layoff of this magnitude is hard to think of. Microsoft has done tens of thousands but I guess IBM wants to get it all done and over with.

I don't think that the unemployment numbers are bogus - but they all have interpretations. You have to know what U3 and U6 are and you have to have a feel for wages, hours worked, participation rate and JOLTS. This will have a noticeable impact on the weekly unemployment claims numbers.