--- title: We’ve got a massive semiconductor worker shortage - The Hustle description: The US may be short 300k semiconductors workers by 2025. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/515241473-News-Brief_2022-01-04T015420.095Z.webp --- # We’ve got a massive semiconductor worker shortage ![Trung T. Phan](https://thehustle.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Image-from-iOS-300x300.jpg?width=48&height=48&name=Image-from-iOS-300x300.jpg) [Trung T. Phan](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/trung-t-phan) [Trung T. Phan Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/TrungTPhan) Published: January 04, 2022 Updated: October 11, 2023 The semiconductor industry is in a pickle. ![We’ve got a massive semiconductor worker shortage](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/515241473-News-Brief_2022-01-04T015420.095Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=515241473-News-Brief_2022-01-04T015420.095Z.webp) Intel has earmarked **$100B+** on chip fabrication plants in coming years. Its competitors — Samsung and Taiwan Manufacturing Semiconductor Company (TMSC) — are putting up similar sums. #### **All this money…** … can’t buy enough people to actually run the plants. Per [*The New York Times*](https://www.wsj.com/articles/chip-makers-contend-for-talent-as-industry-faces-labor-shortage-11641124802), there will be a shortage of up to **300k** semiconductor workers in the US by 2025. The skill shortage runs the gamut from technicians to run the plants to researchers to design the newest chips. One big issue: Silicon isn’t sexy. Today, university grads with engineering degrees — especially Ph.D.s — are taking their degrees to software, which often pays better too. #### **How to train the next generation** The semiconductor firms are implementing new recruiting plans, per *NYT*: - **US chip manufacturers** are lobbying for more foreign work visas to fill the gap - **Leading Taiwanese universities** are launching semiconductor-specific courses together with TMSC - **12 Chinese universities** have already created chip-focused colleges to fill the void With semiconductor chips a geopolitical flashpoint for the 21st century, making silicon sexy is a matter of national security. 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