Intel Israel once again is hanging out the “help wanted” sign as the company says the Israeli branch provides it with 40 percent of its profits.

Maxine Fassberg, general manager of Intel Israel, told the company’s annual news conference in the southern city of Kiryat Gat, 20 miles north of Be’er Sheva, that it will hire another 600 employees this year.

Intel Israel hired 700 new employees last year, bringing its total work force in Israel to 7,800.

"Intel Israel´s exports totaled $22.4 billion in 1999-2011," said Fassberg, and last year’s exports totaled $2.2 billion, helping Israel’s balance of trade and strengthening the shekel.

The U.S.-based chip giant has invested more than $9 billion in Israel, more than 10 percent of which was backed by government incentive grants.

Two key advantages to its Kiryat Gat location is the availability of a wide pool of workers in southern Israel, and the city’s being adjacent to the high-speed north-south Highway 6 (Kvish 6), which cuts the driving time to metropolitan Tel Aviv to less than an hour. (IsraelNationalNews © 2012 03/18/12)