Intel is considering closing down its entire Leixlip facility for three weeks to cut costs amid a continued global slump in demand for computer chips.
The extreme measure is one of a range of proposals under consideration by senior management in the Republic and at other Intel plants worldwide.
It is understood the firm, which employs more than 4,000 people at its Irish operations, would save millions of pounds if it introduced the measure.
An Intel spokesman said last night the firm may or may not decide to close the plant temporarily. "This is one of the options we have been looking at but we have not reached the point where we want to introduce it," he added.
He said he could give no details of the plan or how it would affect the wages of workers if introduced. Intel had already temporarily halted production at some of its international chip manufacturing plants, he maintained.
In March Intel halted construction of a $2 billion (€2.35 billion) extension in Leixlip.
Last month the chip manufacturer offered its staff two weeks unpaid leave until November. This was introduced as a purely voluntary measure.
The global semiconductor industry has been hard hit by a continued slump in demand for chips since last November.
On Tuesday the Semiconductor Industry Association said sales had slipped 20 per cent in May, from a year ago. The industry trade group said sales of $12.7 billion in May were 7.3 per cent off April sales of $13.7 billion.
Margins in the industry are also being pressurised downwards due to the glut of chips on the market. Last month Intel reduced prices on some low-end chips for laptops by as much as 37 per cent.
However, several other Irish-based technology firms have already decided to close their facilities to conserve cash amid the general downturn in the technology sector. Analog Devices in Limerick and Sun Microsystems in Dublin have introduced unpaid leave and decided to shut their facilities temporarily during the summer.
A majority of Analog's 1,400 workforce will be asked to take unpaid leave for one or two weeks in August, while Sun will shut its strategic software development centre for a week during July. Last week Hewlett Packard asked its Irish workers to take a 10 per cent pay cut or additional vacation days in an attempt to shave £1 million off its cost base.
