Intel has collected nearly $2 billion in federal and state subsidies for its Hillsboro operations while cutting more than 6,000 Oregon jobs over the past two years, and the Oregon Working Families Party wants Gov. Tina Kotek and the Legislature to do something about it.

Barbara Dudley, the party's founder, published a letter in The Oregonian on Monday, Aug. 10, calling on Intel to rehire laid-off workers, allow union elections if employees seek to organize and protect workers and neighbors from toxic chemicals used in chip fabrication.

"In exchange for billions of dollars in taxpayer investments, chip manufacturers made specific promises to create good jobs, hire and train local people, provide childcare and respect the environment," Dudley wrote.

The numbers tell a stark story. Intel was awarded $1.86 billion under the federal CHIPS Act specifically for its Hillsboro facilities, according to Dudley's letter citing federal records. The U.S. government restructured that support in August 2025, converting previously awarded grants into an $8.9 billion equity stake in Intel common stock, making the federal government Intel's largest single shareholder. The Oregon CHIPS Fund, authorized by the Legislature in 2023, added another $115 million for expansion of Intel's D1X wafer fabrication facility and construction of the MSB2 support building. That full $115 million had been disbursed as of a March 2026 Business Oregon report.

In return, Intel pledged to create 10,000 jobs nationwide.

Instead, the chipmaker eliminated more than 6,000 Oregon positions in 2024 and 2025, according to WARN Act filings tracked by The Oregonian. That included 1,300 layoffs in October 2024 and roughly 2,400 more in summer 2025. Intel's Washington County workforce has fallen from about 23,000 in 2024 to roughly 16,000 as of July 2026, according to OregonLive reporting. Oregon's unemployment rate stood at 5.2% as of mid-2026, fourth highest in the nation.

Then came more. Intel told employees in its data center group in July 2026 that another round of cuts was coming. The company did not disclose how many positions would be eliminated. In a July 20 statement to The Oregonian, Intel said the division was restructuring to ensure it has the right roles and skills for long-term growth.

The Oregon CHIPS Fund's own accounting shows Intel's subsidized projects created 812 new positions through June 2025, according to the March 2026 Business Oregon report. But that figure tracks jobs tied to the specific CHIPS-funded construction, not the company's net employment, which plunged during the same period.

A June 2026 state report warned Oregon's semiconductor sector risks becoming "insignificant" globally. The industry saw a $500 million contraction in total worker income, dropping from $1.7 billion at the start of 2024 to $1.2 billion by mid-2025.

As we reported Monday, Intel raised $15 billion in new stock to fund its AI chip manufacturing expansion. The company's share price climbed from around $23 to roughly $99 as of July 20, reflecting investor optimism about AI demand.

Neither Gov. Kotek's office nor Intel has publicly responded to Dudley's specific demands. No legislative hearing or deadline has been scheduled to address the accountability questions raised in the letter.