Early in the pandemic, the automotive industry slowed production due to lower demand for new vehicles. But once they were ready to ramp back up, the manufacturers were surprised to find a semiconductor chip shortage was derailing their production capabilities and threatening to prolong their recovery cycle.
Job postings for electrical engineers in the U.S. semiconductor industry grew 78% from 2020 to 2021 — more than three times faster than growth for electrical engineers overall. What’s more, the U.S. semiconductor industry will need between 70,000 and 90,000 new workers by 2025 to meet the most critical workforce needs, reported Eightfold.ai.
There are many strategies being aimed at helping the industry overcome today’s unrelenting labor crisis. But will any of them work?
By now, the world is fully aware of the impact of the semiconductor chip shortage — the industry, businesses, and the economy have taken enormous hits. But there is another looming concern that industry leaders say threatens the U.S. semiconductor industry — national security.
The problem, as many see it, is that the U.S. has become too dependent on chip manufacturing in Asia. Both the recent war in Ukraine and long-brewing tensions between countries in close proximity to China are making national security an increasingly urgent issue.
As if the semiconductor industry isn’t already facing enough challenges, the first quarter of 2022 brought the industry a perfect storm of obstacles — including an earthquake in Japan, a Covid bubble in China, missing chips in trucks, and suspended sales in Russia. In fact, the one bright spot in the tsunami of bad news was the continuing effort to provide the U.S. semiconductor industry with $52 billion in subsidies from the U.S. federal government.
Continue reading our quarterly industry roundup on for more semiconductor industry news from the first quarter of 2022.
The modern semiconductor industry began in 1947 with the invention of the point-contact transistor at Bell Laboratories. In the 75 years since then, the semiconductor industry has become one of the most important business sectors in the world economy. It contributes to every major industry, from electronic devices to appliances.
Today, semiconductor companies are producing more chips than ever — and the demand continues to expand every year. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA)/Oxford Economics report, “The strong demand for all types of chips facilitates the need for a broader domestic support ecosystem, including manufacturing equipment, materials, design services, testing labs, and R&D activity.”
Semiconductors are the lifeblood of modern technology products. The innovative devices produced by semiconductor companies enable everything from life-saving medical research to increased workplace productivity, green technology, and connectivity among people around the world, according to the Semiconductor Industry Organization. As semiconductors have become smarter, faster, and more efficient, they promise to deliver even more life-improving capabilities — from medical research to workplace productivity.
The U.S. can’t recruit skilled engineers fast enough to meet the demand in microelectronics. China needs 400,000 more semiconductor employees to meet its targets. A whopping 80% of manufacturers say it’s difficult to find qualified workers— and half of those are having extreme difficulty.
Vegas has been dealing with fake chips for years, but the gambling industry has developed ways to separate the frauds from authentic chips.
Companies buying semiconductor chips could take a lesson from this playbook, because counterfeit chips are on the rise — with some reporting that the annual losses are in the multiple billions.
Predicting the future is typically a fool’s errand— especially given the way the last few years have played out. However, there are some solid predictions for the semiconductor industry this year that are based on solid evidence from experts in the field. We sought insights from leading sources to share some of the top forecasts for 2022. Among them are semiconductor sales, technology breakthroughs, supply chain status, and labor trends.
This year on the Talent 101 Semiconductor Blog, we shared articles to try to shed a light on some of the exciting, challenging, and upcoming issues affecting the semiconductor industry. In case you missed anything you’d be interested in reading, or are just joining us recently, here’s some of what we published this year:
