Intel an attractive graduate firm - graduate jobs

Chip maker Intel has seen sales rise 44% in the three months to March making it an attractive prospect for graduates looking for a job in the industry.

The company revealed that its first quarter profits increased to £6.7 billion and nearly quadrupled from last year's £408 million.

As a result Intel achieved net income of £1.6 billion, boosting revival hopes in the tech sector and surpassing Wall Street's expectations.

The chip maker's success means that it is expecting to hire about 1,000 people worldwide this year, which will benefit graduates attempting to get a job in the sector.

This comes after it reduced its headcount over the last year from 82,500 to 79,900.

The company, which has offices in Swindon, also raised its margin guidance for this year and said it was optimistic about prospects in 2010.

Worldwide information technology spending is expected to rise more than 5% in 2010, after falling 1% in 2009, according to market research firm Gartner.

As well as chips for computer servers, Intel said demand for processors for higher-end laptops was stronger than expected as firms upgraded staff computers.

In recent months, growth was largely driven by consumer demand for netbooks, which are used for surfing the internet and generate lower margins than chips for normal laptops.