Three years ago, Intel announced a goal to increase global annual spending with diverse suppliers to $2 billion by 2030. Recently, Intel announced it has reached $2.2 billion in diverse supplier spending in 2022, eight years ahead of schedule. This $2.2 billion represents nearly 15 times the annual total when their supplier diversity program launched in 2015 and double their 2019 results.
Intel’s commitment to a more inclusive supply chain allows them to leverage their purchasing power to address social gaps in their pursuit of fair business practices. Included in today’s milestone are two more goals that have been met early:
- $250 million in spending with U.S. Black-owned suppliers by end of 2023.
- $800 million in spending annually with minority-owned suppliers globally by end of 2023.
Intel attributes the ability to reach their goals ahead of schedule to their processes and incentives that encourage diverse suppliers to work with them. Additionally, due to our rapid manufacturing expansion around the world in the past few years, Intel has had the opportunity to bring in more suppliers than ever before.
Influencing Inclusion Across the Semiconductor Ecosystem
When Intel launched its supplier diversity program, there was limited awareness among semiconductor manufacturers of the positive benefits diverse suppliers bring to the supply chain. Through several initiatives and proactive partnerships with our largest non-diverse suppliers and industry groups, Intel has led the expansion of diverse-owned suppliers across the semiconductor industry.
In 2016, Intel began formally inviting our manufacturing and construction suppliers to join in building a more inclusive supply chain. The company encouraged these suppliers to create their own supplier diversity programs and to report their spending with diverse subcontractors working on Intel contracts by incentivizing them with supplier scorecard points, which are prerequisites for prestigious Intel supplier awards. While originally this initiative was small, today it represents 45% of Intel’s 2022 total reported diverse spending.
In 2018, Intel, along with three of our largest suppliers, led the creation of the SEMI Manufacturing Owners Diversity (MOD) Working Group to further increase awareness and opportunities. This working group now encompasses more than 70 corporations, diverse-owned companies and certifying NGOs, and it has established a diversity baseline for the semiconductor supply chain that didn’t exist before. Additionally, the group actively promotes the development of a SEMI standard featuring common definitions and best practices for supporting global supplier ownership diversity.
