Intel Cutbacks Won't Scuttle Industrial Plans in Chandler

PHOENIX-Construction will continue on Intel’s new fabrication plant in Chandler even though the company plans to cut production of chips and layoff more than 5,000 employees worldwide.

Fab 22, which is under construction at Intel’s campus in Chandler, will proceed and will begin full production later this year, say company officials. A 100,000-sf office building being built adjacent to the new fabrication plant will be put on hold until demand for chips increases. The office building was being constructed to handle the overcrowding of the staff at other office buildings on the campus, a problem that will be solved by Intel’s layoffs.

Intel employs about 10% of its 87,000 workers in Arizona, most of them in Chandler. About 1,200 of those will work in the new Fab 22, which is exempt from the layoffs.