Sen. Kelly touts Arizona semiconductor industry despite Intel layoff woes

(The Center Square) – Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly is maintaining an optimistic tone about the state's semiconductor industry in the state as details of Intel's global layoffs remain murky.

"In the state of Arizona, the CHIPS and Science Act has been a big win for the state," Kelly told The Center Square at a media availability in Phoenix on Tuesday.

"It's gonna provide tens of thousands of good paying jobs that you could actually raise a family on, not just with TSMC, but with Intel as well. And when you look at the need of semiconductor chips going forward and what the market for semiconductors is going to going to be next year and the year after, there is an increasing demand," he added.

"So my expectation is, especially here in the state, is we're gonna have tens of thousands of new good paying jobs, not just for semiconductor manufacturing technicians, but we have to build these plants. Right now we have... 12,000 construction workers at the TSMC site. Thousands of more at the Intel site," the senator continued.

The technology company was granted up to $8.5 billion in federal funding and $11 million in federal loans through the CHIPS and Science Act for efforts in Oregon, New Mexico, Arizona and Ohio.

Intel is laying off 15% of its global workforce, and Oregon Business reported that 3,000 of the roughly 15,000 to be cuts are in Oregon. As for Arizona, it's unclear if there will be layoffs given that the company is seemingly growing its operations in state.

Hobbs also expressed confidence that Intel will keep building its presence in the state when The Center Square asked earlier this month, as the company recently announced a semiconductor apprenticeship program in partnership with the state government.

“They're expanding here. We're thrilled to have their expansion here. We're working with them on workforce initiatives to grow the skilled pipeline of workers that they need. We're continuing to do that,” Hobbs said.

The CHIPS and Science Act, as well as other semiconductor efforts, are ultimately meant to develop a full supply chain for the industry in the United States, as the industry is heavily based in Taiwan. The island nation continues to have high tensions with China, making it a large risk for the industry and consumers if China were to invade the country.

While many companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Intel have ramped up domestic efforts, concerns about having enough skilled workers have been a paramount challenge, Nikkei Asia reported in March.