Intel layoff story: 60-year-old worker struggles to find job after job loss, shares real job hunt challenges and advice

A man named Brad Jenkins, in his early 60s, shared his story about losing his job and struggling to find work, as reported by Business Insider. He started working as a technician at Intel in 2021 when he was 59 years old. At that time, he was surprised Intel hired him because he felt he was older than typical hires. Over the next few years, he survived several rounds of layoffs in the company.

In March 2025, a new CEO joined Intel and started focusing on cutting management layers. Brad believed he was safe because he was not in a management role. He expected to retire from Intel and continue working there long-term. On July 7, 2025, he was told he was being laid off. His official last working day was set as July 31, 2025.

Job loss shock

The layoff shocked him and hurt emotionally because he liked his job and worked hard. After losing his job, he decided not to immediately start job hunting. He had some savings, severance pay, and knew he could get unemployment benefits, so he had a financial cushion. He took a one-month road trip to Colorado after the layoff. During this trip, he joined a free training program on electric vehicle charger maintenance, as stated by Business Insider.

The program was organized by Goodwill and lasted multiple weeks. He chose this course because it was free, he was interested in EVs, and he thought it could help him get a new job. He also knew Oregon had plans to expand EV charging infrastructure, so he saw it as a future opportunity. After finishing the course, he extended his break and spent about a month in California. He treated this as a “post-layoff trip” before returning to job hunting.

Job search struggle

At that time, he still had savings and had not yet started claiming unemployment benefits. He believed he could not collect unemployment benefits while being outside his home state. Around November, he started collecting unemployment benefits. He also began actively searching for jobs on LinkedIn and Indeed. He applied for roles including semiconductor specialist positions. He tried reaching out to his old Intel contacts for help, as noted by Business Insider.

Despite networking, he did not get any job offers from those connections. He managed to get some interviews but still couldn’t secure a job offer. As time passed, he also started thinking about starting his own business in the EV sector. He is unsure if his age is a reason he is not getting hired. He believes age may not be a major issue because Intel had employees even in their 70s. He feels the real problem is lower demand for his specific technician role.

Retirement and money worries

Many other technicians are also jobless due to cost-cutting and industry changes. He considered retirement but decided it is not possible right now. One major reason is healthcare, as he cannot get Medicare until age 65. He also mentioned that Affordable Care Act support is not as helpful due to subsidy issues. Having a job is important for him mainly because it provides healthcare benefits. He also wants to increase his retirement savings before stopping work, as per Business Insider. His plan is to work until 67 to receive full Social Security benefits.

Recently, he has reduced spending, especially on luxury vacations. Even before the layoff, he had started cutting unnecessary expenses due to economic concerns. His unemployment benefits are helping him survive for now. However, he knows these benefits will not last forever. He has experienced many economic downturns and layoffs in his 40-year career.

During the Great Recession, he was unemployed for a long time before finding contract work. He says losing a job always feels bad, no matter how experienced you are. His advice to others is to never give up while job hunting. He suggests using all available resources and connections to find opportunities. He advises people not to damage relationships with past employers. He also says job seekers should be ready to accept lower pay if needed, as cited by Business Insider. He ends by saying that even though it is tough, there are still job opportunities out there.

FAQs

Q1. Why did the Intel worker lose his job?
He lost his job due to company layoffs and cost-cutting after new leadership changes.

Q2. Why is he not retiring after losing his job?
He cannot retire yet because he needs healthcare benefits and more savings before retirement.