Intel: We want American engineers

With the job market still in the doldrums and comprehensive immigration reform unlikely to pass before the fall midterms, Silicon Valley titan Intel is hoping to attract a greater share of America's science and engineering talent.

During a conversation with Hillicon Valley Intel's director for Global Public Policy Peter Cleveland said the semiconductor manufacturer has always tried to hire Americans but has not been able to find enough qualified homegrown engineers for its high-level projects.

"We want American engineers. Intel is an American success story," Cleveland said. "We were present at the creation Silicon Valley and we employ 43,000 American workers. We produce one of the most complex products on earth and we do it in America."

Cleveland said the U.S. simply doesn't produce enough M.A. and Ph.D. students in engineering, math and the hard sciences to fill the number of jobs that open up in the tech sector every year. As a result companies have recruited heavily abroad in countries like China and India which export thousands of engineering graduate students to the U.S. every year. Cleveland noted that half of the graduate degrees in those fields awarded at American universities go to foreign students.

But Cleveland also acknowledged that one of the main reasons American engineering and science graduates don't pursue higher education is the range of lucrative careers available to them outside of working in the technological industry. Wall Street has long prized engineering and math graduates, while highly qualified American computer scientists often choose the entrepreneurial or management route rather than working in a technical capacity for a larger corporation.

However, the continued recession may be changing that dynamic, according to Cleveland. He said the growing distaste for Wall Street has made the manufacturing and development of hardware a more attractive field for America's best and brightest.

"We produce something real, and we manufacture it in this country. It's an essential part of many products," Cleveland said. "We're not producing a derivative instrument."

But even if more of America's students choose to work in Silicon Valley, the country is still facing a severe shortage of technical expertise. That's why Cleveland lauded President Obama's plan to increase the emphasis on science and technology for America's students.

"I think the president gets it," Cleveland said. He highlighted the company's efforts to encourage interest in science through programs like the Intel Science Talent Search, a research contest for high school seniors. But he admitted the task wouldn't be easy.

"It's hard, kids may not have a natural aptitude" for science and mathematics, Cleveland said, adding "that's why we have to invest at an early age."