Intel to Create Thousands of Jobs

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel Corporation will invest between $6 billion and $8 billion on future generations of manufacturing technology in five semiconductor fabrication plants.

A new facility in Oregon and four other existing facilities, two in Oregon and two in Arizona, will develop 22-nanometer process technology. The new chips will be used in a variety of devices from computer servers to mobile devices.

The project will support 6,000 to 8,000 construction jobs and create 800 to 1000 permanent high-tech positions.

Intel is relying on the smaller chips to develop faster, power-efficient processing while reducing the risk of overheating. “Today’s announcement reflects the next tranche of the continued advancement of Moore’s Law and a further commitment to invest in the future of Intel and America,” Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini said in a statement.

While the company has not decided how the money or the jobs will be split between the operations, John Pemberton, VP of technology and manufacturing group for Intel and plant manager in Chandler, AZ, said the work will be finished by the end of 2012.

In Arizona, Intel will upgrade Fab 12, originally built in 1995. The plant currently is producing older chips in a 65-nanometer process and will be making several generations of upgrades with the investment, Pemberton said.

The other plant upgrade is Fab 32, where Intel recently spent $3 billion on the 32-nanometer process, at the time the highest chip production level. That production facility was built in 2005.

Still, the bulk of the money and the jobs may go to Oregon, which is getting a new fab to be called D1X, slated for startup in 2013. It also will receive money to upgrade two of its current fabs (D1C and D1D).

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said the decision continues a tradition of Intel bringing high-wage jobs to the state. The company has about 10,000 employees and is the largest semiconductor employer in the state.