For years, semiconductor innovation has heated up the competition between big chip players like Nvidia and Intel, as well as tech giants like Facebook and Amazon. Now, chip companies face a new competitive challenge: making chips for specific purposes as opposed to competing on performance edge or price.
Every industry has its own stressful work environments, but working as a semiconductor professional comes with a unique set of stressors and challenges. While it can be tempting to work with an iron willpower despite the pressure, this can lead to burnout and low productivity. It's critical to stay cool during your day-to-day operations.
As summer winds down and we welcome fall, it’s time to look back at the last few months in semiconductor industry news. In this issue, we’ll look at mid-year semiconductor sales numbers, the bill to end the employment-based visa process, MIT’s battery-free sensor, and Samsung’s newest 5G technology.
Often, we go about our day relatively unaware of the dust and microbes settling in our living and working spaces. However, this should never be the case for cleanrooms, which are highly sensitive workplaces for many electronics industry. Many manufacturing processes done in cleanrooms require strict environmental conditions to safeguard against contamination. And with careful cleanliness, scientists, engineers and cleanroom occupants can control its maintenance, energy cost, and productivity.
In a candidate-driven market, it can be tough to attract and retain great talent. Studies show that younger workers tend to change jobs in pursuit of better career development and learning opportunities. Since hiring managers have to contend with a serious skills gap and talent gap, it’s important to do whatever it takes to keep strong talent satisfied. That means employers need to stay proactive to avoid losing some of their best engineers to competitors who offer more opportunities.
Any engineering veteran could tell you that a fulfilling career in the industry requires much more than a degree. Beyond formal education, there are meaningful experiences that are crucial to an engineer’s professional development, such as:
But without the right resources and direction, it can be challenging to know how to build a successful and rewarding career. Fortunately, there’s a great option available to help engineers advance their careers: joining a professional engineering association.
In an ideal world, it would be easy to ensure your chip engineers are taken care of just by following simple compliance, training, and safety protocols. But in real life, it’s rarely this straightforward.
Semiconductor operations and manufacturing are full of potential industrial health and safety hazards such as toxic gases, flammable acids, and other harmful solvents. Equipment mishandling or safety control slip-ups can further contribute to unsafe conditions in cleanrooms, laboratories, and fabrication plants.
While national standards exist to address worker safety and health, accidents can happen when they’re least expected. And without the right preparation and safeguards, these hazards can pollute the work environment and hurt employees.
Because some risks aren’t obvious, it’s crucial to stay vigilant to the causes of workplace accidents and find ways for engineering leaders to safeguard engineers’ wellbeing.
Today, we’re closer than ever to innovative breakthroughs in connected devices, autonomous cars, AI-driven machines, and robots. There has never been a better time for engineers to dive into more advanced technology and rethink the way they work. Yet, with more and more on engineers’ plates, it can be challenging to find time for learning, inspiration, and personal growth.
For engineers who are feeling uninspired or lost in their careers, help is on the way. We’ve curated a list of five inspiring TED talks ranging in topic from personal development and work management to new technology and creative ways to innovate. Here’s what you need to watch:
As we finish out the second quarter of 2019, it’s abundantly clear this is another transformational year for the semiconductor industry.
Although global semiconductor industry sales are down, the future should hold significant growth, according to predictions. The Developing Innovation and Growing Internet of Things (DIGIT) aims to further the development of connected technology in the U.S. and foster significant advances — like Facebook’s AI Habitat and a chip startup’s new laser solution — to make AI innovation faster and smarter. Moreover, Lattice’s new field programmable gate array (FPGA) may change the game in building better security and compliance.
Every quarter, we bring you the latest news impacting semiconductor companies and provide busy hiring managers with a quick rundown of the industry happenings you can’t miss.
Here’s what you need to know about what’s happened in the second quarter of 2019:
Hiring qualified engineering candidates isn’t an easy undertaking. In today’s job market, recruiters and hiring managers need to attract the right candidates using competitive salary and benefits packages, a healthy work-life balance, and a great company culture. Nowadays, job seekers also prioritize career progression, learning development and the ability to work with cutting-edge technology when considering new opportunities.
In fact, 17 percent of high-tech job seekers say the technology they'll work with is their top priority when considering job opportunities, according to a survey by Stack Overflow. Similarly, employees are more satisfied when they can work on leading-edge content with up-to-date tech, according to a McKinsey report.
With newer nodes of dimensions demanding engineers work with more data at faster speeds, innovative technology is more important than ever in the semiconductor industry. Advanced analytics and technologies are not only more exciting, but they’re crucial to engineers’ effectiveness and help them gain a competitive advantage in the industry.
For recruiters and hiring managers, communicating a commitment to interesting projects and innovative technology is key to recruiting and retaining top engineers. Here are a few ways you can accomplish this goal:
