Intel opened their first Chandler, AZ manufacturing plant in 1980 and currently has 12,000 AZ employees. Intel is spending $20 billion to build two new chip fabrication plants in Chandler, AZ and will add thousands of new highly-paid employees.

According to ZipRecruiter, in May 23, 2025, the average pay was $103,902 for Intel Corporation in Phoenix, AZ. At a seminar I gave I met a guy whose wife receives $400,000/year as a senior Human Resource manager.

However, starting in the 4^th Quarter of 2024, Intel is suspending its dividend and plays to lay off 20,000+ of its world-wide employees, a reduction of 20+% of its total employees. Intel’s headquarters is in Santa Clara, CA and employed 116,500 employees as of June 29, 2024. Intel has 12,600 employees in CA at two major sites in Santa Clara and Folsom. Despite its current corporate restructuring, Intel has been a major leader in the semiconductor chip industry for decades.

There are many other companies besides Intel in Silicon Valley, CA, According to ZipRecruiter, “the average salary for an entry-level software engineer is around $123,348. Salaries range from $76,500 to $141,200, with top earners making $189,381. Senior computer engineers in CA typically earn between $160,000 to $250,000 with the average salary around $200,000.” Silicon Valley is home to the largest concentration of high-tech in America.

Competition for Jobs is Fierce: A 5/20/2025 article in the S.F. Standard by Rya Jetha and Ezra Wallach, is titled “Sorry, grads: Entry-level tech jobs are getting wiped out”. “New graduates are being increasingly excluded from a job market that prefers automation and more seasoned workers. Hiring of new grads by the 15 largest tech companies has fallen by more than 50% since 2019, according to a new report from VC firm SignalFire. Before the pandemic, new grads accounted for 15% of hires at Big Tech companies; now, the figure is 7%. Meanwhile, startups, which used to be a haven for those unable to land gigs at the so-called Magnificent 7, are shrinking in headcount and hiring less entry-level talent.”

Who is your competition for a job in Silicon Valley?
Among the top 75 Silicon Valley tech firms, whites make up 47% of the workforce, Asian Americans 41%, Hispanics, 6% and African Americans 3%, according to an analysis by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). According to a March 15, 2025 post on www.joanjacobs.com. “Two-thirds of tech workers in Silicon Valley are foreign born, according to the 2025 Silicon Valley Index produced by Joint Venture Silicon Valley. Half come from Asia with India (23 percent) and China (18 percent) the most common countries of origin. Only 17 percent were born in California and 14 percent from other U.S. states. (Quite a few of the American born are the children of immigrants from Asia.).” Surprisingly, very few came from other countries such as: Taiwan (4%); 2% each from Korea, Iran, UK, Germany, Ukraine, and Latin America; and only 1% each from Japan, Russia, Canada, Philippines, and Hong Kong. If you compare math and science scores between China, India, and America, China is on top and America is last, with India in the middle.

Conclusion: Many parents want their kids to have a bright economic future. Silicon Valley has been the modern-day Gold Rush for decades. Many parents will spend over $100,000 to $200,000 on their kids’ college education. This article was written because many parents asked for advice about how to invest their education dollars in a profession that will pay their kids big bucks.

To RSVP for future seminars or schedule a free consultation, please contact Dr. Harold Wong at (480) 706-0177 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. His website is www.drharoldwong.com.

Dr. Wong earned his PhD in Economics at UC Berkeley in 1974 and passed the National CPA exam in 1979. He has appeared on over 400 TV/Radio programs.