If you're tied into the politics, even when you're a mediocre employee, you're less likely to be impacted. Intel doesn't care about those that have the knowledge or are committed to the role/company. Someone else can or will be made to do your job. Doesn't matter if you're the best at it. It all comes down to how much you're costing the company and whether you've managed to play along. Sometimes it has to do with the elimination of the group.
Originally posted by @2vcq+1rPjOKqR, I'm making it into a thread because it's 100% on point.