No, not debugging.

Leaving Intel. Ouch:

Intel Corp. may cut 10 percent or more of its workforce by early next week, according to published reports late Thursday that cited sources familiar with the plans.

Santa Clara-based Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), the world’s largest computer chip-maker, employs an estimated 100,000 around the globe, including 7,000 in Folsom.

CNET News reported that Intel CEO Paul Otellini is expected to announce a layoff of up to 10,000, as early as Tuesday. The job cut is likely to target marketing staff, the site reported. A report by The Wall Street Journal puts the number as high as 20,000.

I’m not sure how this would have affected my job, if at all, because I was a contractor. But, given the current economic climate at INTC, and given that I was pretty well-paid over there, I have a sneaking suspicion that at some point they would have furloughed me, or worse, told me not to bother showing up anymore.

Ultimately, it wouldn’t have mattered much, because they only keep contractors on for a max of one year, so I would have been out of work in February, anyway. While it would have been nice to get a full-time job there, I’m not exactly eager to join a company that is in the middle of cutbacks. I’ve been through that before. It sucks. Everyone is walking on eggshells, trying not to become the next casualty in the next round of layoffs. Everyone is gloomy because they know someone who got sacked who has been with the company for 15 years and has 2 kids in college and is very entrenched in the community. People wear gloomy looks on their faces, and though they try to hide it, their anxiety shows in their personal interactions. It’s not a fun environment in which to work, and I’m glad I got out when I did.

(I must note that my experience is based on one period alone: immediately after the tech bubble burst. This is not such a severe downturn, so hopefully things at Intel won’t be nearly as bad as they were when I was at VERITAS.)