poohkyaw
Apr 15, 2008, 11:31 AM
Isa na naman pong dagok sa ating bansa at sa mhigit 3,000 kababayan natin manggagawa diyan sa pinas. tsk...tsk... :mecry:
Asan ang sinasabi ni Gloria na matatag na ekonomiya! :grrr:
End of an era looms as Intel ‘may shut down’ Cavite hub
Melvin G. Calimag
As employees of the Intel plant in Cavite gathered one Wednesday afternoon last week, top company officials informed them of the generous exit package that awaits them just in case plans wouldn’t work out in the next six to nine months.
That announcement was enough to convince them that things are indeed not okay, and almost collectively, they cried at the thought of an uncertain future.
The tears they shed may also have been meant for the Philippines, whose once lofty standing in the semiconductor manufacturing business is being threatened by the impending closure of the most famous semicon locator in the country after 34 years of existence.
Although a lone paragraph statement from the company did not categorically indicate that it was closing its facility within the year, that option was clearly on the table with the offering of separation pay for its staff based in its test and assembly plant at General Trias in Cavite.
"In an effort to keep employees informed, Intel has updated its employees that significant investments would be required to ensure the long-term viability of its factory building in Cavite," the terse statement said.
The facility currently employs about 3,000 employees, all receiving above-standard salaries. It is there where Centrino, one of Intel’s best-known processor line, was first assembled and shipped to the global market.
Aside from making chipsets and processors, the huge site also has a flash silicon design factory. But having entered in a joint venture with Numonyx, it is expected that some workers doing flash work will now become Numonyx employees.
Intel said its total investments in the Philippines have reached $ 1.51 billion.
Teresa Pacis, external communications manager of Intel Technology Philippines, said the company was "just being honest" with the workers when it announced the compensation package as Intel "explores multiple options."
According to reports posted in blogs by former and current Intel plant employees, one of the "options" discussed by the company during the Wednesday meeting was moving the factory to a Laguna IT park since the current building at the Gateway Business Park in Cavite was structurally defective.
But employees have doubted this explanation, with most of them wondering why the company would offer an exit package when its only intent was to transfer in another location within the country.
One of the options, of course, includes shutting down the factory.
The plant’s closure was long time coming, observers said, adding that several problems have plagued its efficiency as a world-class manufacturing hub.
An American based in Mindanao commented in a blog that the electricity cost in the Philippines is among the highest in the world. "Labor is expensive here compared to neighboring countries. Frankly, I’m surprised that Intel stuck around as long as they did," he wrote.
Aside from the high labor and power cost, insiders said the expensive building rentals as well as alleged thefts and robberies committed inside and outside the premises contributed to the decline of the plant’s operations.
The Cavite plant’s inevitable closure marks the passing of era since Intel was the first American semiconductor company to locate in the country in 1974. It was Intel’s second offshore assembly operations center in Asia, after Malaysia.
Its first factory was located in Bangkal, Makati before it decided to put up a much bigger facility in Cavite in 1996. In 2002, it closed down its Makati location and consolidated all its functions, including flash silicon design, in the new hub. Currently, Intel has two manufacturing sites in Cavite that assemble and test logic, communications and flash memory products.
Intel’s decision to put up a manufacturing hub was hailed by many as a symbolic vote of confidence that paved the way for other foreign firms such as Texas Instruments to come in the country.
The boom in semiconductor manufacturing also made the electronics sector the biggest export earner for the Philippines, lifting the local economy and giving thousands of jobs to the local population.
In 2004, a company-commissioned study by University of Asia and the Pacific showed the tremendous economic impact of Intel’s investment in the country. It noted the $ 713 million in direct and indirect export contributions and $ 37.5 million employment income generated by the company.
It is also the driver of Cavite’s economy, the report said, noting Intel in 2004 accounted for 22 percent of exports and was the largest employer in General Trias.
As far back as three years ago, rumors have circulated that Intel had already made a decision to pack up after the year 2010. The writings on the wall became clearer in February 2006 when Intel inaugurated a $ 605-million test and assembly plant in Ho Chin Minh City in Vietnam.
During the Vietnam launch, Intel chair Craig Barrett said then that the new facility was just an expansion and will not affect the operations of other plants such as the one located in the Philippines.
However, the telltale signs were already there: Among the countries in Asia where it has a test and assembly plant, the Philippines was the only country in which Intel neither expanded nor invested a significant portion of the billion it has allotted for the region.
Compared to the Cavite plant which got zero budget, Intel poured a whopping $ 270 million to increase the capacity of its Malaysian plants and another $ 300 million was allocated to expand its facilities in Shanghai and Chengdu in China.
During the media interview, Barrett himself said the company considers "political stability" as a major factor when making investment decisions. Unlike the Philippines, Barrett said Intel was greatly impressed with the favorable investment climate of Vietnam.
Asan ang sinasabi ni Gloria na matatag na ekonomiya! :grrr:
End of an era looms as Intel ‘may shut down’ Cavite hub
Melvin G. Calimag
As employees of the Intel plant in Cavite gathered one Wednesday afternoon last week, top company officials informed them of the generous exit package that awaits them just in case plans wouldn’t work out in the next six to nine months.
That announcement was enough to convince them that things are indeed not okay, and almost collectively, they cried at the thought of an uncertain future.
The tears they shed may also have been meant for the Philippines, whose once lofty standing in the semiconductor manufacturing business is being threatened by the impending closure of the most famous semicon locator in the country after 34 years of existence.
Although a lone paragraph statement from the company did not categorically indicate that it was closing its facility within the year, that option was clearly on the table with the offering of separation pay for its staff based in its test and assembly plant at General Trias in Cavite.
"In an effort to keep employees informed, Intel has updated its employees that significant investments would be required to ensure the long-term viability of its factory building in Cavite," the terse statement said.
The facility currently employs about 3,000 employees, all receiving above-standard salaries. It is there where Centrino, one of Intel’s best-known processor line, was first assembled and shipped to the global market.
Aside from making chipsets and processors, the huge site also has a flash silicon design factory. But having entered in a joint venture with Numonyx, it is expected that some workers doing flash work will now become Numonyx employees.
Intel said its total investments in the Philippines have reached $ 1.51 billion.
Teresa Pacis, external communications manager of Intel Technology Philippines, said the company was "just being honest" with the workers when it announced the compensation package as Intel "explores multiple options."
According to reports posted in blogs by former and current Intel plant employees, one of the "options" discussed by the company during the Wednesday meeting was moving the factory to a Laguna IT park since the current building at the Gateway Business Park in Cavite was structurally defective.
But employees have doubted this explanation, with most of them wondering why the company would offer an exit package when its only intent was to transfer in another location within the country.
One of the options, of course, includes shutting down the factory.
The plant’s closure was long time coming, observers said, adding that several problems have plagued its efficiency as a world-class manufacturing hub.
An American based in Mindanao commented in a blog that the electricity cost in the Philippines is among the highest in the world. "Labor is expensive here compared to neighboring countries. Frankly, I’m surprised that Intel stuck around as long as they did," he wrote.
Aside from the high labor and power cost, insiders said the expensive building rentals as well as alleged thefts and robberies committed inside and outside the premises contributed to the decline of the plant’s operations.
The Cavite plant’s inevitable closure marks the passing of era since Intel was the first American semiconductor company to locate in the country in 1974. It was Intel’s second offshore assembly operations center in Asia, after Malaysia.
Its first factory was located in Bangkal, Makati before it decided to put up a much bigger facility in Cavite in 1996. In 2002, it closed down its Makati location and consolidated all its functions, including flash silicon design, in the new hub. Currently, Intel has two manufacturing sites in Cavite that assemble and test logic, communications and flash memory products.
Intel’s decision to put up a manufacturing hub was hailed by many as a symbolic vote of confidence that paved the way for other foreign firms such as Texas Instruments to come in the country.
The boom in semiconductor manufacturing also made the electronics sector the biggest export earner for the Philippines, lifting the local economy and giving thousands of jobs to the local population.
In 2004, a company-commissioned study by University of Asia and the Pacific showed the tremendous economic impact of Intel’s investment in the country. It noted the $ 713 million in direct and indirect export contributions and $ 37.5 million employment income generated by the company.
It is also the driver of Cavite’s economy, the report said, noting Intel in 2004 accounted for 22 percent of exports and was the largest employer in General Trias.
As far back as three years ago, rumors have circulated that Intel had already made a decision to pack up after the year 2010. The writings on the wall became clearer in February 2006 when Intel inaugurated a $ 605-million test and assembly plant in Ho Chin Minh City in Vietnam.
During the Vietnam launch, Intel chair Craig Barrett said then that the new facility was just an expansion and will not affect the operations of other plants such as the one located in the Philippines.
However, the telltale signs were already there: Among the countries in Asia where it has a test and assembly plant, the Philippines was the only country in which Intel neither expanded nor invested a significant portion of the billion it has allotted for the region.
Compared to the Cavite plant which got zero budget, Intel poured a whopping $ 270 million to increase the capacity of its Malaysian plants and another $ 300 million was allocated to expand its facilities in Shanghai and Chengdu in China.
During the media interview, Barrett himself said the company considers "political stability" as a major factor when making investment decisions. Unlike the Philippines, Barrett said Intel was greatly impressed with the favorable investment climate of Vietnam.