Intel to Close Down Shanghai Plant, 2,000 Affected

After making its plans to counter the effects of the global slow economy public, Santa Clara, California-based Intel has just announced that the jobs of 2,000 of its employees will be affected as the company intends to close its test plant in Shanghai. The 2,000 workers will be given the opportunity to work at two other assembly sites the company owns, one of which is still under construction. Employees that will not choose to relocate will be offered a standard severance package.

 

Intel, the global leading manufacturer of computer processors, announced on Thursday that it was consolidating its manufacturing operations in China, with plans to move 2,000 of its employees at the operating site in Shanghai. “We are consolidating our manufacturing operations in China consistent with actions we announced a couple of weeks ago,” said Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy.

 

On January 21, Intel announced its plants to close some of its chip plants and align its manufacturing capacity to the current market conditions, as the chip maker has also felt the effects of the economic downturn. The move, which was a result of “the recent economic conditions,” was said to affect the jobs of between 5,000 and 6,000 of Intel's employees.

 

“Assembly and testing facilities will be closed in in Pudong outside of Shanghai. This will take place between now and the second quarter of 2010,” Mulloy said.

 

The 2,000 workers will be offered jobs at two of Intel's remaining facilities, one in Chengdu, located in western China, and another one in Dalian. The latter is however still under construction.

 

“On the fab, we expect to begin production in the second half of 2010. It is a new fab at a new site, something we've not done in decades, so we will take our time in staffing and put extra training in place for employees. Right now the workforce in Dalian is relatively small but will ramp in the coming 18 months,” he said.

 

Intel said that it would continue to operate a development center in Shanghai, also planning to increase the investment in its Dalian plant, the company's first 12-inch wafer plant and currently the biggest investment project in China.