The CHIPS and Science Act led to investment to the tune of $53bn in US federal funding to help revitalise the US semiconductor industry. With the US’s worldwide share of chip manufacturing capacity declining from 37% in 1990 to 10% in 2022 (source: Mark LaPedus, Substack), the introduction of the act was a timely one.
The world’s largest players, from GlobalFoundries to Intel to Samsung to TSMC, secured funding – and began plans to build and modernise fabs. Yet amid this activity, has the workforce pipeline been forgotten?
Workforce pipeline
SEMI, the global association that serves as the voice of the microelectronics industry, says this is the case in its most recent US Policy Strategy. Of its five top policy priorities for 2026, alongside ‘continued implementation’ of the CHIPS Act to ‘develop a forward-looking initiative’, there is a call to ‘establish a national workforce pipeline aligned with federal, state and industry programmes to meet critical talent needs’. The industry’s anticipated workforce shortage is a “constraint on national competitiveness”, the association adds.
In ‘State of the US Semiconductor Industry report 2025’, the Semiconductor Industry Association and Oxford Economics have forecast that the US will face a projected shortfall of 67,000 technicians, computer scientists and engineers in the semiconductor industry by 2030. The race is on to get the new workforce in. Forging different routes to unearth talent, alongside getting academia, industry and policy all working together, is going to be key.
Global semiconductor ambassador Robert Quinn believes it is never too early to start educating. He says he is “not necessarily fond” of how money for the workforce is currently being allocated. “We have to get the next generation excited about the semiconductor industry,” he says.
Education plans
To this end, and with a nod to SEMI’s reference to ‘non-traditional education’ as part of the national workforce pipeline, Quinn has launched a Semiconductor Industry Mobile Education Unit. The goal is to take a custom-made, 53ft-long semi-trailer to 700 students and visitors per day and provide an immersive educational experience.
“People don’t realise,” says Quinn. “They think if we just throw money at universities, people are going to just instantly go to get a degree in semiconductor when they don’t even know what the word means, or what it does. I think we need units all over the country, going to schools, to give those kids that Disney World ‘Aha’ moment.”
At the UWBG (ultrawide-bandgap) Semiconductor Lab at Texas State University, assistant professor of electrical engineering Dr Ariful Haque and his cohort of students and researchers fabricate diamond, iii-nitrates and gallium oxide with the goal of creating more efficient and robust devices, solving problems of thermal management and doping.
Funding for universities
Funding is available: in August 2025, Texas State University received a $7.5m award from the National Science Foundation to establish a Center of Research Excellence in Science and Technology for UWBG Semiconductor Device Materials. Haque feels that, broadly, more can be done. “We need a lot of talented people,” he says. “A lot of talents are going towards many different fields.”
Having the technical skills is one thing, yet real-world context is also key. Leadership and independence is also an area where Haque encourages his students: taking ownership of projects, speaking at conferences, dealing with manufacturers directly for components. “I try to prepare my students within our capability in such a way that they don’t encounter a huge shock when they join the professional platforms,” he says.
What does Haque want to see more of going forward? “I would love to see more dialogues take place between the industry leaders and the university leaders, since this is a national priority to keep up with current needs, not only from [an] AI perspective but also from the defence industry perspective,” adds Haque.
“More investment is needed – and not only investment, but also at the policy level, we need to implement the right policy. And that can only be done if we initiate a lot of dialogues, town halls among the leaders – not only from industry but also academia.”
Robert Quinn and Dr Ariful Haque sit on the advisory board of Microelectronics US, taking place from 22-23 April at Palmer Events Center, Austin, Texas.
Electronics Weekly is the main media sponsor for Microelectronics US, an event which brings together academia and industry across the semiconductor, photonics and the embedded ecosystem.
