How Intel is helping meet the childcare challenge in Arizona

As part of its ongoing coverage of how a lack of quality childcare can negatively affect the economy, Chamber Business News sat down with Angela Creedon, Arizona Public Affairs Manager at Intel Corporation, to talk about what Intel is doing to help ease the childcare challenge for families.

The answers have been slightly edited for clarity and length.

CBN: There are many different models for childcare. Some companies offer onsite childcare, some reserve spaces at childcare providers for employees, some offer an allowance. What model has Intel chosen?

Angela Creedon: Here in Arizona, Intel offers tuition discounts at local childcare centers for employees, as well as emergency backup childcare for families needing help when regular childcare is not available.

CBN: Does Intel work with employees on childcare issues beyond the Chandler campus?

Creedon: Yes, Intel helps provide support for employees across our operations. Most of our U.S. sites offer these tuition discounts and priority enrollment and the emergency backup childcare support.

CBN: At your Chandler locations, is childcare provided onsite or offsite through other providers?

Creedon: Childcare is provided offsite and is designed to help provide flexibility and support for our employees. It helps support employees who may need last-minute childcare, and it enables employees the opportunity to pick participating discounted local childcare centers that might be more convenient for their needs.

CBN: Research by the US Chamber Foundation has found that childcare can be a barrier to entry into the workforce. What have you been hearing from people across industries about how employers are trying to get people back in the workforce?

Creedon: Affordable childcare is important to a lot of workers. That’s why we’re so proud to offer the childcare programs that we do, and they’re designed to help reduce the cost of childcare for our employees while still offering employees the choice for where of the discounted centers they want to enroll their children.

Another potentially beneficial thing about working at Intel is the condensed work schedules our technicians work. They work three days on, four days off, and that can be helpful in helping address childcare needs for some of these employees who work this schedule.

CBN: Do you think that companies like Intel have to be thoughtful about childcare benefits because the competition for talent is so fierce?

Creedon: Without a doubt, and we’re really proud to offer all our benefits and make sure that they’re good for both employees and families. We know how important it is for all employees who are parents to have access to childcare and are supported with these programs.

I also love working at Intel personally because there are so many great benefits including our childcare programs. We’re focused on helping build a more inclusive technology industry and future, and I think that childcare and benefits, in addition to fostering an inclusive culture and investing in workforce development, are really important ways to help support this focus.  

CBN: What are some other things, from a compensation and benefits standpoint, that Intel has done to help with recruitment and retention?

Creedon: At Intel, we provide a workplace where everyone has access and opportunity to achieve their best, and inclusion is one of Intel’s core values and is at the heart of our culture. We’re focused on helping to foster employee voice and a sense of belonging for every employee. We also invest in workforce development initiatives to help pave pathways into our industry, including our Quick Start program with Maricopa Community Colleges.

Since 2019, we have achieved gender pay equity globally and we continue to maintain race/ethnicity pay equity in the US. We offer adoption benefits, with coverage up to $15,000, as well as bonding leave for both maternal and paternal leave.

Intel is also famous for its sabbatical policy, which offers four weeks of vacation after four years or the option to wait eight years and have a full two months off. Some employees have big vacations and others may just go take care of family, so it’s across the board what they do with their time.