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Semiconductors are at the heart of America’s strength, enabling the essential technologies that drive economic growth and national security. With demand for semiconductors projected to increase significantly by 2030 and beyond, semiconductor companies are ramping up production and innovation to keep pace.
Fortunately, thanks in large part to enactment of the landmark CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, a significant share of new chip manufacturing capacity and R&D is expected to be located in the U.S. But as America’s semiconductor ecosystem expands in the years ahead, so too will its demand for semiconductor workers with the skills, training, and education needed in the highly innovative semiconductor industry.
We project the semiconductor industry’s workforce will grow by nearly 115,000 jobs by 2030, from approximately 345,000 jobs today to approximately 460,000 jobs by the end of the decade, representing 33% growth. Of these new jobs, we estimate roughly 67,000—or 58% of projected new jobs (and 80% of projected new technical jobs)—risk going unfilled at current degree completion rates. Of the unfilled jobs, 39% will be technicians, most of whom will have certificates or two-year degrees; 35% will be engineers with four-year degrees or computer scientists; and 26% will be engineers at the master’s or PhD level.
This is going to require more than just universities attempted to crank out more graduates. We really need to get training programs going that will allow people with degrees/experience in other fields (e.g. biology, other engineering disciples, etc.) to participate. Most people today are very leery of taking on enormous amounts of student debt to get a degree, when the availability of a job at the end is not guaranteed. At Semitracks, we are working on programs to address this very issue.
This is going to require more than just universities attempted to crank out more graduates. We really need to get training programs going that will allow people with degrees/experience in other fields (e.g. biology, other engineering disciples, etc.) to participate. Most people today are very leery of taking on enormous amounts of student debt to get a degree, when the availability of a job at the end is not guaranteed.
Take a look at how Taiwan did it. University feeder schools near the fabs. TSMC employees are rock stars in Hsinchu, Tianan, and Taichung. They build whole cities around these fabs. Semiconductors has been a part of the Taiwan culture for many years. Just like Silicon Valley back in the 1970s and 1980s. You cannot replicate this type of ecosystem overnight. It will take years...
Yes, there are definitely culture issues that we have to overcome. We have scads of people working in technology fields who seem to just want to do the minimum amount required. However, I think there are some people that would be willing to work hard to get a manufacturing job in our industry; the challenge is finding them and then giving them the opportunity.
Manufacturing needs to pay competitively to tech. Saying people need to work harder for less is not going to make people want to work in manufacturing when alternatives exist in tech.
Fair enough, but that's something that management within these semiconductor companies will need to address. If they simply want to save money and send their designs over to TMSC or Samsung and have them manufacture the chips, that's great, until there is a more dire geopolitical event. At that point though, I suppose it may not matter. We need more proactive thinking about this issue. BTW, I am not in the camp that thinks the government, and its funding, can make things better. This is something the industry needs to figure out on its own.
Take a look at how Taiwan did it. University feeder schools near the fabs. TSMC employees are rock stars in Hsinchu, Tianan, and Taichung. They build whole cities around these fabs. Semiconductors has been a part of the Taiwan culture for many years. Just like Silicon Valley back in the 1970s and 1980s. You cannot replicate this type of ecosystem overnight. It will take years...
A lot of those jobs are likely to be suitable for remote work, but the hardware side of computing has been living under a rock when it comes to unleashing the power of a distributed workforce. It has nothing like the legion of developers you find in software, even though if you set cameras to watch their work day (sit at a computer, think hard) they would be indistinguishable.
The good side of this is the upside for hardware companies smart enough to distribute much their workforce wherever they want to live. Yes, some need to work at the fabs, but nowhere near 400,000 of them.
Agreed. With software from companies like Telit, a lot of workers can sit at remote locations and operate fab tools by connecting securely. The workforce onsite doesn't need to be particularly large. It's just getting the manufacturers to be more proactive in their thinking about this. Remote work doesn't always work, but I think it can work in a number of situations, and this is one where it should be able to work.
