I think the journalist is bang on point. The company can pay $1.5B in dividends but cannot pay enough to keep their workforce. Corps will do everything to avoid paying their workforce fair share of the profits.
The Intel workforce and leadership is failing to perform and continue bringing in sufficient revenue to justify a workforce of its size, and they will all lose their jobs anyway if it continues.
If shareholders think that firing a bunch of people to “eliminate waste” and pulling capital from the company in the form dividends to reinvest elsewhere is the way to maximise their returns (as a whole) then that’s what will happen.
I assume,based on my observations, that most companies have employees that impede productivity.
But, i do wish companies placed their responsibility to their employees over shareholders.