Workers at the Intel plant in Leixlip were still feeling in the dark last night after a webcast informed them of global job cuts in the company. Intel hopes to shed 10,500 jobs worldwide.

The words "attrition and redeployment" were being used by the company in relation to cuts in Ireland. It is understood the company plans not to fill jobs that are vacated and to redeploy some staff to other areas within the company.

One worker with five years' experience told The Irish Times there would be no shortage of volunteers if redundancies were sought.

"It is the lads in the States I feel for. They're very worried," he said.

"They don't have the employment legislation to support them. Over there, they are told to find another job within the company or else they are out. They are not obliged to pay redundancy there."

Another worker who recently joined the company said he was disappointed at the lack of detail in the webcast.

"There are still a lot of rumours going around," he said. "Basically, it seems the further away from the core business you are, the more likely you are to be affected. "