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Yesterday was an eventful day for shareholders and employees of Intel Corp. The American chipmaker reported its Q1 2025 results while its new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, confirmed earlier reports that Intel would be laying off employees. Heres what you need to know about those layoffs and the latest movement in Intels stock price. New Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan confirms job cuts The most devastating news to come out of Intel yesterday was that earlier reports were correct and the company would be laying off employees. On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that Intel was preparing to lay off up to 20% of its current workforce. Given that Intel reported having 108,900 employees at the end of 2024, that 20% cut would equate to roughly just under 22,000 people being laid off. The 22,000 layoff figure, if accurate, would be larger than Intels last round of mass layoffs in August 2024, when then-Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger announced 15,000 job cuts. Intels CEO confirmed the new job cuts in an email he sent to employees on April 24, which Intel then later published on its website. In the email, Tan laid out his desire for Intel to once again become an engineering-focused company so it can better compete in the chip marketplace and begin innovating again. But in order to refocus the company to one that is engineering-first, Tan said Intel will need to find ways to reduce its existing costs. Some of that cost reduction will come from layoffs. In a poorly subtitled section of his email called Flattening the Organization, Tan said he was a big believer in the philosophy that the best leaders get the most done with the fewest people. In order to refocus the company on engineering, Tan said, Intel would need to remove its organizational complexity and unnecessary bureaucracy. To this end, Tan said there was no way around the fact that these critical changes will reduce the size of our workforce. However, Tan didnt state the size of this workforce reductionneither in terms of the number of employees that will lose their jobs, nor in the percentage of Intels workforce that would be let go. That means it is currently unknown if Bloombergs 20% figure was correct. Fast Company has reached out to Intel for comment on the number of upcoming layoffs. What Tan did confirm is that the layoffs would happen in Q2which is Intels current quarter. He also said that the company will move as quickly as possible [with the layoffs] over the next several months. Intel stock price sinks after Q1 earnings results But Intel employees werent the only ones who got bad news yesterday. Investors did, too. After Intel released its Q1 2025 numbers yesterday, the companys stock (Nasdaq: INTC) is currently down a significant amount in premarket trading this morning. As of the time of this writing, INTC shares are currently down around 6.7% to just above $20 per share. INTC shares had gained 4.3% yesterday to close at $21.49 before the company revealed its Q1 performance. Unfortunately, investors usually see layoffs as a good thing for a company because when a company lets go of workers, it can save a lot of money. Fewer employees mean fewer associated costs. Yet still, INTC shares are down after the companys Q1 results and layoffs confirmation. But why? Intel announced that its Q1 revenue was $12.7 billionessentially flat year-over-year. It also reported a loss equal to 19 cents a share. But those disappointing numbers didnt seem to bother investors as much as Intels quarterly forecast for its current Q2. Intel issued revenue guidance for its Q2 of $11.2 billion to $12.4 billion. But as Reuters notes, the analysts’ average estimate was $12.82 billion. Many investors thus saw the guidance as an admission from Intel that its turnaround effort will take time. The company is largely seen to have fumbled the opportunity to take advantage of the AI boom in the early years of this decade, and thus seeded AI chip dominance to Nvidia. Intels Tan is now hoping to make Intel into an AI chip juggernaut, but the companys guidance suggests thats not going to happen overnightand certainly not in the next quarter. Until yesterday, Intel was one of the few major tech companies in America whose shares were up for the year. INTC closed yesterday at $21.49, up 7.18% for the year. But with its nearly 7% premarket decline this morning, INTC shares are now essentially flat for the year to date. Looking out to a longer timeline, INTC shares have performed much more poorly. As of yesterdays close, INTC shares had fallen nearly 38% over the past 12 months. Over the past five years, INTC shares were down nearly 64% as of yesterdays close.
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Job interviews are the fortune cookies of hiringvague and often misleading. But companies keep using them, despite research suggesting that typical job interviews are mostly unreliable predictors of future job performance, because they give hiring managers the illusion of insight, and a convenient way to validate gut instinct with zero data. Its not that all interviews are useless; some formats, like structured behavioral interviews with scoring rubrics, including AI-based scoring algorithms that match responses to actual outcomes and future performance, can be moderately predictive. But the typical unstructured interview? Oftentimes, it conveys the illusion of predictability by allowing hiring managers and interviewers to unleash their biases and subjective preferences during the interview, and then reactivate those same biases during their job performance ratings and evaluations of those candidates, once they become employees. Its mostly a personality contest masquerading as a talent evaluation. The candidates who perform best in interviews are often the ones with the most confidence, charisma, and charm. Unfortunately, these traits are also the calling cards of narcissists, Machiavellians, and the occasional smooth-talking psychopath. What passes for “leadership gravitas” can often be ego dressed in a blazer. In fact, studies show that narcissists are more likely to be seen as competent in interviewsespecially by less experienced, trained, or qualified interviewers who confuse bravado with ability.. So how do you stand out in an interview without sounding like you’re auditioning for a TED Talk titled “Why I’m Amazing (and You’re Lucky I’m Here)”? Here are five science-based recommendations: 1. Quantify your brilliance instead of announcing it Its one thing to say youre a strong leader. Its another to say you managed a team that increased revenue by 35% in under a year during a hiring freeze. Guess which one gets remembered? Vague self-praise triggers skepticism. Data builds trust. Candidates who provided specific behavioral examplesespecially with measurable outcomesare generally rated significantly higher in competence and hireability. Swap generic lines like Im results-oriented for I led a cross-functional team that reduced churn by 28% in Q3. And when you do this, resist the urge to sound smug. If your data is good, it speaks for itself. No need to add a drumroll. 2. Be confident enough to admit what you dont know Ironically, one of the most confident things you can do in an interview is say, I dont know. Not followed by silence, of coursebut followed by . . . but heres how Id go about figuring it out. This signals humility and problem-solving, a combo thats far more attractive than pretending youve mastered every domain from supply chain to quantum physics. As psychologist and author Tasha Eurich suggests, self-awarenessparticularly awareness of ones own limitationsis a key marker of effective leadership. If you mention a skill you havent mastered, follow it with a brief story of how youve successfully learned something similar.Now youre not just self-awareyoure coachable. In todays volatile and unpredictable job market, people should care less about what you know, and more about your ability, disposition, and willingness to learn in the future. 3. Show you have empathy Narcissists tend to lack empathy. So, if you want to distance yourself from that ego-obsessed camp, demonstrate that you can see the world through someone elses eyes. Empathy isnt just about being nice in interviews. Its about showing an ability to collaborate, manage conflict, and not derail an entire Slack thread with your emotional immaturity or self-centered delusional rants.Same rule applies to the job interview: When you describe past experiences, include others in the narrative. What were their challenges? How did they feel? How did you adapt your approach to help? How did you realize they felt and reasoned? Ask your interviewer thoughtful questions about the team dynamics, not just your potential title. It shows you care about humans, not just your LinkedIn profile. 4. Let your achievements shine, but dont dwell on them for too long The bigger the accomplishment, the more chill you should be when you mention it. Theres a fine line between thats impressive and wow, do you talk about anything else? Weve all met someone who peaked in high school sports and never got the memo. Think of it this way: if youre a big deal, you dont need to say ityour story should do the heavy lifting. Let your success land quietly and let the interviewer be the one who leans in. For example, instead of I turned around a failing division single-handedly, try I was fortunate to be part of a turnaround effort that ended up boosting performance by 40%. In other words, same data, less ego. 5. Read the room Heres a wild idea: Focus more on the people interviewing you than on your own performance. Read the room. Listen actively. Make eye contact. Nod (at appropriate times, not like a bobblehead). Pause to check if your answers are clear. It sounds basic, but narcissists are notoriously bad at this. They monologue. They steamroll. They mansplain. They circle back to points no one asked about.So if you want to distinguish yourself, be the person who not only speaks wellbut listens even better. For example, after you answer a question, try asking, Did that answer what you were hoping to learn? or Would you like more detail on that? Its called being a kind and socially skilled human, and its rarer than you think. Final thought: Be the antidote to the ego parade The truth is, narcissists can be magnetic in interviews. But so can people who are competent, thoughtful, and self-aware. The latter are just more unusualand in far greater demand once the honeymoon phase is over and actual work begins. So, the next time you walk into an interview, remember: You dont have to dazzle with hype.You just have to seem real, competent, and curious enough to connect. Confidence is great, but only if it helps you persuade others that you are competent. In contrast, humility in the face of complexity will make you stand out, because modest competence beats delusional confidence (most of the time).
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E-Commerce
Lets get one thing out of the way right now: If youre taking photographs with a Polaroid camera in the 21st century, its not because pristine image quality is your overarching priority. In the digital age, the dreamy imperfection of Polaroid pictures is part of their appeal. Theyre never that sharp, and no two come out exactly the same. Even Fujifilms Instax camerasinstant photographys current market-share giantproduce more consistent results. Still, even people who love Polaroids analog soul and tactile immediacy have their limits. Each shot from an eight-photo film pack costs about $2.25, considerably more than Instax shots. Thats less than it did in instant photographys golden age decades ago, once adjusted for inflation, and you can save by buying multipacks of film. But paying more than two bucks to take a photo is a shock to the walletespecially given that digital ones are effectively free. So youd probably like to get the best pictures your Polaroid camera can muster, or at least avoid outright misfires. [Photo: Polaroid] Thats the idea behind the companys newest camera, the Polaroid Flip. At $200, its pricier than the diminutive Polaroid Go ($95), entry-level Polaroid Now ($120), and slightly above-entry-level Polaroid Now+ ($140). The additional investment buys you several features designed to improve your odds of getting pleasing shots in a variety of shooting environments. (Meanwhile, the high-end Polaroid I-2, with its fancy lens and manual settings, is aimed at the select group of photographers who crave more artistic control and are willing to spend $450 on an instant camera.) The Flip in the cameras name references its most obvious new element, a flippable bar that houses the flash and some LED indicators. Relocating the flash let Polaroid increase its size and distance from the lens, both of which can improve photo qualityjust as they did back when original Polaroid models such as the Sun 600 sported a similar design. That is particularly critical given that instant photos benefit from turning the flash on in pretty much any environment except bright sunlight. The Polaroid Flips improved flash helps in dimly lit environments. The Flip upgrades the two lenses used by Polaroids cheaper models to a four-lens system capable of sharper results at a wider range of distances. It also has sonar autofocusing, a technology the company first used almost 50 years ago in one of the worlds first autofocus cameras that works equally well regardless of lighting. None of these features transforms the look and feel of the photos youll get, but they help eke out better image quality in tough conditions. Along with helping you take better pictures, the Flip has a new feature that prevents you from taking bad ones. If you try to take a photo of a subject thats too close or insufficiently lit, a red light displays in the viewfinder. In extreme cases, the shutter button wont fire at all. Stine Bauer Dahlberg, Polaroids chief product officer, reminded me that one of the most famous original Polaroid cameras, 1965s Swinger, did something similarthough I like its approach even better: If its vetting confirmed you could take a good photo, you saw an affirmative YES in all caps. Compared to Fujifilmwhich offers several hybrid Instax cameras melding digital sensors and film outputPolaroid seems happy, so far, to stick to its traditional roots. The Flip does connect to Polaroids smartphone app via Bluetooth, opening up options such as exposure compensation and manual control of aperture and shutter speed. But even if you adjust some of the settings on your phone, the resulting photos are still analog through and through. Functionally and aesthetically, most 21st-century gadgets bear little resemblance to gear of the 1970s and 1980s, unless theyre going out of their way to embrace a retro vibe. By contrast, a citizen of 1985 transported to 2025 would unhesitatingly identify the Flip as a Polaroid camera. Yet its striking resemblance to the models of yore doesnt feel like an act of nostalgia. Why mess too much with something that still works? The classic Polaroid design did, and does. Pressing the red shutter button and listening to the whirring as the photo emerges from the slot in front is still a satisfying experience. Take someones photo, and theyll be curious how it turned out in a way thats less common with smartphone photos. Even a Polaroid camera thats just sitting on your desk provokes questions and smiles. My biggest quibbles with the current Polaroid experience are with the film, not the camera. The company still hasnt quite gotten its quality back to where it was before the old Polaroids near-death experience early in this century. Nor do photos develop anywhere near as quickly as the old ones did and Fujifilm Instax ones do today. Keeping up with demand for film packs also seems to tax Polaroids production capacity: Earlier this week, the classic white-frame version was out of stock on the companys website. (Its back as I write this, and usually seems easy enough to find at retail.) Dahlberg told me Polaroid is still working on film improvements: There are a couple of things that we’re doing right now that are going to be more visible soon. Now, at some point in every article about Polaroid in the 21st century, it has been obligatory to marvel at the factthat instant photography is still a thing and that the companywhich went bankrupt twice and once abandoned camera and film productionremains extant. Such wonderment seems less and less essential. After all, its been almost two decades since a band of enthusiasts calling themselves the Impossible Project took over the only remaining Polaroid film factory. That last-moment gambit eventually led to it acquiring the Polaroid brand, launching new cameras, and securing shelf space in places such as Best Buy and Target. Fujifilms Instax, meanwhile, never stopped booming. Human beings, it turns out, still like to take instant film photosincluding people who werent even alive in Polaroids heyday. At this point, its safe to say the medium isnt going anywhere. If you want to partake in it, the Flip is one of the best options Ive seen, and certainly worth the $60 premium over Polaroids Now+. Its available for purchase on the companys site and will be in stores next month. You’ve been reading Plugged In, Fast Companys weekly tech newsletter from me, global technology editor Harry McCracken. If a friend or colleague forwarded this edition to youor if you’re reading it on FastCompany.comyou can check out previous issues and sign up to get it yourself every Friday morning. I love hearing from you: Ping me at hmccracken@fastcompany.com with your feedback and ideas for future newsletters. I’m also on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads, and you can follow Plugged In on Flipboard. More top tech stories from Fast Company 20 years ago, this simple video rewired the way we share our lives onlineJawed Karim’s 2005 upload didn’t just launch YouTubeit helped usher in a share-all culture, where even the mundane became content. Read More Bot farms invade social media to hijack popular sentimentGovernments, financial influencers, and entertainment insiders are using data center-like facilities full of phones to push narratives fabricated through fake social media engagement.Read More AI coding tools could bring us the ‘one-employee unicorn’As the tools, and other AI agents, gain functionality, billion-dollar startups with a single human employeeor even nonemay become possible. Read More Microsoft thinks AI colleagues are coming soonMicrosoft is dubbing 2025 the year of the ‘Frontier Firm.’ Read More Adobe releases ‘created without generative AI’ tag to label human-generated artJust as it’s introducing the option to use GenAI models like OpenAI, Runway, and Google, Adobe is letting creators draw a new line in the sand between their work and AI. Read More How to delete your personal info from the internet for freeHiding your address, phone number, and other details from Google and people search sites is easier than you might think. Read More
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