Intel employees facing possible layoffs may be able to find jobs in other semiconductor companies in Chandler.
"We are hiring in our Valley operations, particularly in the manufacturing area, and we welcome applications from anyone interested in joining the Freescale team," said Glaston Ford, director of corporate public relations for Austin-based Freescale Semiconductor. "We're hiring from technicians up through engineers and managers."
He declined to say how many hires the company plans.
"We'll evaluate each candidate on a case-by-case basis," Ford said.
Intel said in mid-July it would lay off 1,000 managers, about 1 percent of its workforce worldwide. The company would not say how many of its 11,000 Chandler-based workers would lose jobs, but a 1 percent reduction would be about 110 people. Other cuts may be looming.
Intel's companywide evaluation was launched in April to combat declining market share, sluggish revenue growth and lackluster stock performance.
Steve Sanghi, chief executive officer of Microchip Technology, said his company has close to 100 job openings in Chandler and Tempe, and more throughout the world.
"We look for any Intel employees that might want to apply for a job," Sanghi said.
Microchip generally hires lower level employees from the outside and tends to promote senior employees from within. But exceptions can be made if a person with the right skills comes along, he said.
"It depends on which people we get resumes from and whether they're the right match," Sanghi said.
Ford said that, depending on the job, an Intel worker's skills may or may not transfer to Freescale.
"An R&D job might require special knowledge working with a particular material. We can't bring anyone off the street and have them become expert (overnight)," he said.
But moving among high-tech companies happens.
"It's common for people to move between chip companies, and chip companies and suppliers, and chip companies and customers as they build out their career and experience," Ford said.
"Some jobs are easier to move between companies," he said. "A marketing person can become a marketing person quicker than an expert in special technology can move."
Sanghi, who worked at Intel from 1978 to 1988, is taking no pleasure in the company's downsizing
"I feel sorry for the employees getting laid off," he said. "Intel has been a great company over the years and continues to be today. They've got some short-term issues, and I'm sure they'll work through them."
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