Biden’s $52 billion bet on chips has a big problem—American semiconductor firms take twice as long to hire as anyone else
An analysis of the top 50 producers by Revelio Labs supports what chipmakers have long said: the U.S. doesn’t have enough candidates.
BYMACKENZIE HAWKINS
AND
BLOOMBERG
August 08, 2023 12:51 PM EDT
President Joe Biden. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
US chipmakers are struggling to fill key positions, a new study shows, as a shortage of skilled labor threatens to hobble efforts to revive the domestic industry.
It’s taking semiconductor firms more than twice as long as their peers in other industries to hire personnel such as technicians or mechanical engineers, with the typical process stretching to about three months, according to an analysis of the top 50 chip producers in the US by Revelio Labs, a labor-market data analyst.
That’s ominous news for President Joe Biden’s administration, which is pumping $52 billion into the country’s chip industry in a bid to reduce reliance on Asian supply chains and deliver thousands of jobs. The subsidies are already galvanizing a wave of investment across the US, but a hiring bottleneck could slow progress.
Chipmakers have long sounded the alarm that the US doesn’t have enough job candidates with a background in science, technology and engineering. The firms are on course to add 115,000 jobs by 2030, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association — but at current degree completion rates, the group says, nearly three-fifths of those jobs could remain unfilled.
Already, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has pushed back the proposed start of production at its Arizona plant, citing a lack of construction workers with the expertise to install highly technical equipment. The firm plans to send staff from its Taiwanese facilities to train local workers, executives said on an earnings call last month.
