July 03, 2024 – The Biden administration has announced a new initiative aimed at bolstering the U.S. computer chip workforce, in an effort to counteract the potential threat posed by labor shortages to domestic semiconductor production.
Dubbed the “Workforce Partner Alliance,” the program will tap into a portion of the 5billionfederalfundsreservedforthenewlyestablishedNationalSemiconductorTechnologyCenter(NSTC).TheNSTCintendstoawardsubsidiestoupto10labordevelopmentprojects,withbudgetsrangingfrom500,000 to $2 million each. Additional application procedures will be launched in the coming months, and officials will determine the overall expenditure after evaluating all proposals.
The funding originates from the “Chips and Science Act” passed in 2022, which allocated 39billiontowardsadvancingU.S.chipmanufacturingandanother11 billion for semiconductor research and development, including the NSTC. In response to the government incentives, companies have committed to investing over 10 times the amount of the government subsidies, a surge in investment that is expected to reshape the global semiconductor supply chain. The program launched on Monday marks the first labor-focused allocation under the Act.
Industry and government officials have warned that without significant investment in the workforce, newly planned factories may struggle. The U.S. aims to produce at least one-fifth of the world’s most advanced chips by 2030, but some estimates suggest a shortage of 90,000 technicians by that time.
“We must develop a domestic semiconductor workforce ecosystem to support the industry’s expected growth,” said Michael Barnes, Senior Manager of the Workforce Development Project at Natcast, a non-profit organization established to operate the NSTC.
Since President Biden signed the Chips Act two years ago, over 50 community colleges have announced new or expanded semiconductor-related programs. The four largest recipients of funding under the Chips Act – Intel, TSMC, Samsung Electronics, and Micron Technology – have each allocated 40to50 million specifically for workforce development.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the 12th grant under the Act, providing $6.7 million to Rogue Valley Microdevices, a U.S. chip foundry. The funds will support the construction of a new factory in Florida, specializing in chips for defense and biomedical applications.
