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Recruitment is due to get under way in the coming months for 1,600 new jobs being created by Intel at its Leixlip plant in Co Kildare.<\/p>\nRecruitment is due to get under way in the coming months for 1,600 new jobs being created by Intel at its Leixlip plant in Co Kildare.<\/p>\n
The chipmaker said the the recruitment will happen in stages over the coming years as the company completes construction of its new manufacturing facility.<\/p>\n
The tech giant has invested 7 billion dollars (\u20ac5.9 billion) at the north Kildare campus over the past three years.<\/p>\n
Intel Ireland vice-president of manufacturing and operations and general manager Eamonn Sinnott said: \u201cWe are accelerating investment in Europe and supporting the EU\u2019s ambition of having 20 per cent of the world\u2019s cutting-edge chips manufactured locally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Intel employs more than 10,000 people across Europe, about 5,000 in Ireland.<\/p>\n
About 4,500 work in Leixlip, while another 500 are in Cork and Shannon.<\/p>\n
Mr Sinnott added: \u201cSince 1989, we have invested 15 billion dollars in current manufacturing capacity in Europe, ensuring that Intel is one of the largest and most advanced semiconductor manufacturing operations in the region, but we\u2019re not stopping there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn an effort to more than double Intel\u2019s available manufacturing space in Ireland and Europe, we have invested an additional seven billion dollars from 2019 to 2021 in an ongoing expansion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis investment is designed to bring Intel\u2019s latest generation 7nm process technology to the region and expand our manufacturing operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will also drive economic growth in the region, creating 1,600 permanent hi-tech jobs once complete and over 5,000 construction jobs.<\/p>\n
\u201cFurthermore, there will be additional opportunity for investment in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
The company plans to announce another phase of expansion to support our a foundry business in the US, Europe and other global locations within a year.<\/p>\n
The construction of the company\u2019s new fabrication plant is about half-way through. It is expected to be another two to three years before it is completed and all 1,600 jobs are filled.<\/p>\n
It is not yet known what the total investment in the Leixlip site will be at that stage.<\/p>\n
Communications manager Sarah Sexton told Virgin Media News the new positions will be largely technical roles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll be quite similar to the jobs we have here today which are largely technical roles, quite a few engineering type of roles right across the spectrum of engineering,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThings like manufacturing technicians and support roles in things like facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Taoiseach welcomed the \u201cambitious expansion\u201d of Intel\u2019s Irish operations.<\/p>\n
Miche\u00e1l Martin said: \u201cIntel has made a major contribution to Ireland since 1989 \u2013 and these hi-tech roles will play an important role as we build the green and digital economy of the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
T\u00e1naiste Leo Varadkar described the jobs announcement as \u201canother huge vote of confidence in Ireland\u2019s future\u201d.<\/p>\n