According to Irish Independent, chipmaker Intel plans to cut  the number of its employees in Ireland by 4% before the end of the year.

Intel's Leixlip based plant employs around 5000 workers. Most of the layoffs will be focused on the flash memory production line and the company is setting up a voluntary redundancy program with various benefits for workers who choose to leave.

Faced with growing competition in the flash memory market, Intel and STMicroelectronics formed a company called Numonyx earlier this year. The flash memory joint venture should help both companies remain competitive in the face of ever growing competition.