Staff growth at Intel Corp.'s Rio Rancho plant plateaued in 2020 following one of its biggest hiring pushes in many years.
In a Friday interview with Business First, officials confirmed that after adding more than 500 employees in 2019, Intel hired 82 people at the Rio Rancho plant last year. The period of slowed hiring came during unprecedented economic interruption due to the Covid-19 pandemic and followed two expansions announced in the couple of years prior. Intel is preparing to ramp up operations in Phoenix, and recently announced plans for two new factories in Chandler, Arizona. The $20 billion investment is expected to create 3,000 high-tech jobs, according to Intel.
But whereas Phoenix is the company's "U.S. manufacturing powerhouse," Communications Manager Linda Qian said during the interview, New Mexico serves as an "innovation hub." Several technologies are being developed in Rio Rancho, including one that the company had previously been developing in an undisclosed location.
That technology is called the embedded multi-die interconnect bridge, or small connectors for computer chips to enable more scalability. Compared with an older design used to bring together chips — in which they are placed atop an electronic baseboard — the EMIB product offers increased bandwidth which can make tech such as laptops run faster, according to Intel.
Intel's Optane memory and storage technology, designed for data centers and personal users, is also being developed in Rio Rancho. The technology behind Optane, called 3D XPoint, was being jointly developed by Intel and Micron Technology Inc. But with Micron now exiting from 3D XPoint, Intel may need a place to produce it.
One industry expert said Rio Rancho might be the place to do so. Weeks before Micron announced it was abandoning 3D XPoint, Jim Handy, a semiconductor market analyst, told Business First that it is "reasonable to assume that [Rio Rancho]" would be chosen. When asked, Intel New Mexico Public Affairs Director Erika Edgerly said Intel has "not announced where manufacturing is going to take place."
Silicon photonics, a separate type of technology which uses lasers to enable quicker data transfers over longer distances, is also under development in Rio Rancho.
Capital spending for Intel in New Mexico topped $290 million last year, and the company says it has invested more than $16 billion to support its operations here since 1980. In 2004, the Sandoval County Commission approved a $16 billion industrial revenue bond for Intel, Business First reported. Intel has had a significant economic impact on Rio Rancho, creating a large number of jobs. In 2019, Intel made 509 local hires, according to its annual report with Sandoval County for that year. Its New Mexico employment stands at more than 1,800, up from about 1,200 in 2018.
This year's growth prospects are uncertain.
"I think we’re continually hopeful that we’ll be hiring, but we won’t speculate on the future," Edgerly said.
Average annual total compensation for Intel New Mexico employees stood at more than $145,000 as of the end of 2020, according to the company, including salary, benefits and bonuses.
Many firms faced big hits to business last year due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting restrictions. But Intel says it experienced revenue growth during the period and, according to reporting from The Wall Street Journal, is betting on an increase in chip demand that some think will continue past the pandemic. On its most recent annual report, the company posted an 8% increase in revenue in 2020 compared to the previous year.
Intel also made contributions to the community to help combat the pandemic, including a pledge to the All Together NM Fund, according to a release from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's office. A total of 65,000 pieces of personal protective equipment were also donated, according to Intel.
