A former Intel employee, fired in his 60s, has opened up about the financial struggles he faced and how unemployment disrupted his retirement plans. Brad Jenkins, a US-based engineer, lost his job in mid-2025 after four years with a technology company in Oregon, according to a report by Business Insider.
Jenkins, who joined Intel at age 59, said he has always been skeptical of layoffs since he started his job. “I was 59 at the time and I remember thinking. Why are you hiring some old ass like me?” I survived several rounds of layoffs over the next few years,” he told Business Insider.
“Well, I’m not the manager so I should be safe.
Jenkins said everything at work went smoothly until March 2025, when Intel replaced the chief executive officer (CEO), and the focus was on reducing management levels.
“Well, I’m not the manager so I should be safe. I thought I was going to retire there, but I was wrong,” he said.
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On July 7, Jenkins was informed that he had been fired and that his last day of work would be July 31. Since then, he has been struggling to find work and feels the time is not right for him to retire.
Jenkins said the layoff hurt because he loved his job. He added that he took a break, relying on his savings and a few weeks of severance pay before looking for another job.
One of the first things he did was take a month-long trip to Colorado, where he also attended a free workshop on the Electric Vehicle Charger Maintenance Program.
“The training is free, I’ve never been to Colorado, I’m interested in electric vehicles, and it might help me find a new job. I knew the Oregon state government had plans to add more electric car chargers around the state, so I thought it might be a lucrative area to get into,” the portal quoted him as saying.
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“After school, I decided to take an extended break from the work world and spent about a month in California on what I thought was a post-release trip. I still had some savings and hadn’t started receiving unemployment. From what I understand, I wasn’t eligible for unemployment unless I was in the state,” he added.
“I’m not sure if my age worked against me in my job search”
Last November, he began aggressively looking for a job on the networking site LinkedIn. There were several occasions where I also went for some interviews but failed to get an offer.
“I’m not sure if my age worked against me in my job search,” he said.
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He claimed that there was less demand for the work he did at Intel because many engineers were looking for work, whether due to cost-cutting or other factors.
He also stated that retirement does not make sense for him due to financial reasons, the biggest obstacle is healthcare expenses. “I can’t apply for Medicare until I’m 65, which is in a few years, and the Affordable Care Act isn’t that helpful with the subsidies expiring. Having a job provides health benefits, so it’s pretty critical that I get back to work,” he said.
