Semiconductor Manufacturing in Oregon - 2015

Intel recently announced plans to reduce its worldwide workforce by 12,000 jobs, with half of the reduction occurring this year. The company has not said how the layoffs will impact its Oregon facilities, but the announcement brings up a lot of questions about how many and what types of jobs might be affected in Oregon. Intel is part of Oregon’s semiconductor and electronic components manufacturing industry. Although we don’t have information specific to Intel, there is a lot of information about jobs in the overall semiconductor manufacturing industry.

In 2015, there were 148 establishments in Oregon’s semiconductor and electronic components manufacturing industry. The industry employed a total of 29,142 jobs during the year, with a total payroll of more than $4 billion. That was roughly 4.7 percent of all the wages paid in the state last year. The annual average wage is $138,487, which includes bonuses. That’s close to three times the annual average wage for Oregon’s private sector.

A lot of jobs in the semiconductor manufacturing industry are high paying, but not all workers earn close to the industry average. The highest paying occupations tend to be managers, engineers, computer or sales specific occupations. Production occupations, such as semiconductor processors and electrical and electronic equipment assemblers, tend to earn much less.

Nearly three out of four jobs (73%) in the industry were held by men in 2014. Across the overall economy, the share of jobs is more evenly split, with 51 percent of jobs in Oregon held by men.

There are not a lot of younger or older workers in the industry. In 2014, very few jobs in the industry were held by workers under the age of 25 years (3%) or age 65 years and older (2%).