Apple has announced that it will create 2,000 jobs in manufacturing, engineering and construction in the United States by opening a new factory in Mesa, Ariz.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said 700 of the jobs will be manufacturing positions in the first year, and 1,300 of the jobs will be in construction and related areas.

It’s believed that workers there will produce industrial sapphire to be used in components like iPhone fingerprint scanners.

The scratch-resistant material may one day also be used for smartphone screens, so the company has an interest in developing the resource.

The plant will be the hi-tech company’s second new factory in the US in less than a year. Before the recent opening of its Austin, Texas, factory, Apple had not manufactured its products in the US in almost a decade.

Following criticism of worker conditions at its factories overseas, Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook has taken steps to shift some manufacturing back to the US.

The Arizona factory itself will be environmentally friendly, run entirely on solar and geothermal energy.

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