Intel Corporation will increase its planned Costa Rica investment to $600 million and hire 600 people in the process, the company announced.
This represents an increased investment of $250 million and about 400 more jobs than what was originally budgeted in December 2020.
“We are very pleased to announce this increase in investment to be made in the country and which is also associated with an increase in jobs,” said Timothy Scott Hall, an Intel Costa Rica manager and spokesperson.
“We continue to grow and diversify our operations with the three centers of excellence of Assembly and Testing, Global Services, and Research and Development.”
President Carlos Alvarado called the Intel expansion “an extraordinary sign of confidence in Costa Rica and in our human talent.”
“This is excellent news for the country,” he said.
The operations are part of Intel’s Manufacturing and Operations division and involve the assembly and testing of microchips. Intel also has a Research and Development Center and a Global Services Center in Costa Rica.
Intel will hire via their job portal at: www.intel.com/jobs.
Intel has operated in Costa Rica since 1997, when it helped to establish the country as a technology hub.
In 2000, microchips represented 36 percent of the country’s total exports, and by the time Intel closed its chip assembly plant here in 2014, laying off 1,500 workers, its production represented more than a quarter of Costa Rica’s exports
Since then, the company has expanded its Costa Rica-based research and development center, where employees “design, prototype, test, and validate integrated circuit and software solutions.”
Intel Costa Rica also operates a services center that provides “finance, human resources, procurement, and sales and marketing support” for the entire corporation.
Today, the company employs more than 2,200 people in Costa Rica.
Intel Costa Rica’s headquarters are located in Belén, Heredia, northwest of the capital.
