LoginA new report has found that job growth in the semiconductor manufacturing industry is expected to slow down in 2012, due in part to a decline in demand. Despite the news, one California semiconductor equipment maker has announced plans to increase its workforce this year.
According to the IHS ISuppli Global Manufacturing Market Tracker Report, semiconductor industry revenue is expected to grow only slightly this year, increasing by 3.3 percent over 2011.
"Much of the weak performance in both 2011 and this year can be attributed to external circumstances over which the semiconductor industry has no control – the ambiguous state of the global economy, along with assorted troubles in the world's major markets of the United States, Europe, Japan and China," said Len Jelinek, director and chief analyst of semiconductor manufacturing research at IHS.
In California, one semiconductor manufacturer appears to be bucking the odds, adding 300 workers last year.
The Oakland Tribune reports that KLA-Tencor expects to continue to hire more workers throughout the year at its primary complex and headquarters in Milpitas.
During the past year, the company generated more than $3 billion in sales.