In March 1967, Sporck was hired away by Peter J. Executives at the semiconductor division were allotted substantially fewer stock options compared to other divisions. Sporck, Pierre Lamond and most managers had grown upset and disillusioned with corporate focus on unprofitable ventures at the expense of the semiconductor division. Sporck was reputed to run the tightest operation in the world.

Noyce's position on Fairchild's executive staff was consistently compromised by Sherman Fairchild's faction. While the Fairchild corporation claims the Diné women were chosen to work in the Shiprock plant due to their 'nimble fingers' as previously noted, the women of the Shiprock reservation were actually chosen as the workforce due to a lack of labor rights asserted by the women in addition to 'cheap, plentiful workers and tax benefits'. Paul Driscoll, the Shiprock plant manager, spoke of the 'untapped wealth of natural characteristics of the Navajo.the inherent flexibility and dexterity of the Indians.' Although highly successful during its operation, the plant was closed in 1975. In The Shiprock Dedication Commemorative Brochure released by the Fairchild company, the Diné (Navajo) women circuit makers were celebrated as 'culture workers who produced circuits as part of the 'reproductive' labor of expressing Navajo culture, rather than merely for wages.' This claim was based on the opinion that circuits of the electronic chips had a mere resemblance with the complex geometric patterns on the Navajo rugs. At its peak, the plant employed over a thousand Navajos, the majority of whom were women. In 1965, Fairchild opened a semiconductor assembly plant on the Navajo Nation in Shiprock, New Mexico.

Fairchild 260 amps