Intel Invests in Smart Buildings in Israel to Lure Tech Workers

Intel Corp plans to make substantial investments to build “smart buildings” in Israel, as the number of unfilled positions at tech companies in the country continues to rise.

The chipmaker intends to spend $11 billion to build a production facility in Israel, which will contain some of Intel’s most advanced technology. Intel is already one of the biggest employers in the country.

While Israel accommodates more startups per person than any other country, there’s not enough tech talent. Technology giants like Intel, Apple and Google have been acquiring local startup companies and establishing research centres and it’s getting harder to find enough talented people.

Technology firms in Israel were nearly 17,000 positions short in 2018, and that figure continues to rise, as reported by Start-Up National Central, a nonprofit research organization.

In order to take advantage of this situation and attract tech workers, Intel has raised the bar at its new development centre in Petah Tikva. The facility is full of perks as it includes a smart gym, massage parlour and 14,000 sensors that control motion, light and air to provide comfortability.

“Anything you offer as a perk, whether it’s a gym membership or a paperless work environment or additional days for maternity leave or a go-green policy, all of these things are going to help you,” said David Gantshar, CEO of executive search & recruitment firm Shepherd Search Group.

The centre is a 10-floor building which will be a home to 2,700 of its local 13,000 employees.

At first, the building was designed to have seven floors but Intel added three more. The tech company also asked for LEED Platinum certification, the highest standard of green construction.

The architect Dagan Mochli said he was designing another smart and LEED Platinum-certified development centre for Intel in the northern city of Haifa.

He said Intel’s new building is a “breakthrough,” as demand for similar constructions keeps rising. Mochli said he’s also working on a smart 15,000-square-meter banking campus in Israel and a 240,000-square-meter smart biotech park in China.