LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Despite recent investments from the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) is predicting that there will not be enough workers to fill the jobs created by 2030. 

“We project the semiconductor industry’s workforce will grow by nearly 115,000 jobs by 2030, from approximately 345,000 jobs today to approximately 460,000 jobs by the end of the decade, representing 33% growth,” SIA officials said. 

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However, there is likely going to be a dramatic shortage of workers, particularly in the realm of technicians. 

“Of these new jobs, we estimate roughly 67,000—or 58% of projected new jobs (and 80% of projected new technical jobs)—risk going unfilled at current degree completion rates,” SIA officials said, “Of the unfilled jobs, 39% will be technicians, most of whom will have certificates or two-year degrees; 35% will be engineers with four-year degrees or computer scientists; and 26% will be engineers at the master’s or PhD level.” 

Projections from the group calculate that the U.S. economy will add roughly 3.85 million additional jobs requiring technical proficiency in various fields, but of those, 1.4 million jobs are predicted to go unfilled unless there is a greater emphasis on a pipeline to grow “skilled technicians, engineering, and computer science.” 

According to SIA, education is also a primary area of concern as it has determined there to be an insufficient number of students pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) degrees.  The tri-part plan to address this shortage is as follows:

  • Attract more students to STEM disciplines.
  • Employ more STEM graduates in STEM fields.
  • Attract more STEM students to job opportunities in the semiconductor industry.

Moreover, SIA sees a large part of the education vacuum to be caused by a lack of those who attain higher degrees in engineering choosing to stay in the United States- who are more than 50% foreign citizens. 

“Approximately 80% of master’s and 25% of foreign PhD STEM graduates from U.S. institutions do not remain in the U.S. after graduating, either by choice or because of U.S. immigration policy,” according to SIA officials. 

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The report from SIA came just shortly before President 

Joseph Biden issued an executive order on Thursday restricting US investments in Chinese technology that would include computer chips, micro electronics, quantum information technologies, and artificial intelligence.

In a letter to Congress, the president declared a national emergency to deal with the threat of advancement by countries like China “in sensitive technologies and products critical to the military, intelligence, surveillance or cyber-enabled capabilities.”

The full report by SIA can be viewed here.