Intel on Offshoring

Computer giant Intel has defended its policy of moving jobs to overseas markets where the cost of labour and other overheads are lower.

Craig Barrett, the chief executive of the American group, said "offshoring" was only fuelling controversy because the United States was in the run-up to the presidential election in November.

The company, along with others, has come under fire for the practice as the US economy gains ground but has struggled to increase the number of new jobs created.

Many have said that Intel, whose profits have been increasing, should be helping to spark the home employment market. But Mr Barrett said:

"You shouldn’t think of offshoring as a recent phenomenon. This has been happening for decades. It seems the press has just discovered it recently because it is an election cycle, especially in the United States."

And he said Intel, the world’s largest maker of computer microchips, would continue outsourcing jobs as it seeks to build its operations in south-east Asia, where it has major plants in Malaysia and the Philippines.

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