Oracle to move some manufacturing jobs from Mexico to Oregon

IDG News Service - Oracle is moving 130 manufacturing jobs from Mexico to Oregon, a company spokeswoman said.

The move by Oracle reflects a growing trend by both tech and other companies to move a part of their manufacturing back to the U.S. Apple, for example, has said it will build some Macs in the U.S., while Intel is expanding its manufacturing in the country.

Oracle has committed to adding 130 jobs and retaining 300 jobs at a facility in Hillsboro, Ore., according to a statement on Tuesday by Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber. The company's decision to expand in the U.S. rather than overseas is the latest example of "an industry leader choosing to 'onshore' in our state," Kitzhaber said.

By moving production of its systems and servers from Mexico to Hillsboro, Oracle said it will be able to meet customer demand while bringing new technology jobs to the state of Oregon.

An incentive for Oracle may have been a forgivable loan of $750,000 that Oregon is awarding the company from the Strategic Reserve Fund besides $649,000 from its Business Expansion Program. The award is contingent upon the company creating 130 new full-time jobs while also retaining 300 full-time positions over a two-year period.

The Hillsboro facility became part of Oracle after its 2010 acquisition of Sun Microsystems, and some products made at the factory include Oracle Exalogic, Oracle Exadata, SPARC SuperCluster, Oracle Big Data Appliance and Oracle ZFS Backup Appliance, the spokeswoman said.

President Obama said in his State of the Union address earlier this month that he wants to make "America a magnet for new jobs and manufacturing."

"Just as it's becoming more and more expensive to do business in places like China, America is getting more competitive and more productive," Obama said last week in Asheville, N.C., according to information available on the White House website.

"After placing plants in other countries like China, Intel is opening its most advanced plant here in the United States. Apple is starting to make Macs in America again," he said.

Intel said in January that construction is continuing at its D1X development fab in Hillsboro. The multi-billion dollar facility is expected to come up on the company's 14 nanometer process technology, it said.

Oracle declined to comment on how many of its manufacturing staff would be left in Mexico after the 130 jobs are moved to Hillsboro.

John Ribeiro covers outsourcing and general technology breaking news from India for The IDG News Service. Follow John on Twitter at @Johnribeiro. John's e-mail address is john_ribeiro@idg.com