US to face shortage of 67,000 chip industry workers by 2030: study

The U.S. semiconductor industry will need around 67,000 workers by 2030, according to a study prepared by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) and Oxford Economics.

The industry’s workforce sits at roughly 345,000 in 2023 but is predicted to reach 460,000 by the end of the decade. The study said that at the current rate that people are graduating from schools, the U.S. will not have enough qualified workers to fill the increase.

CAN AI COMPANIES BE TRUSTED TO SELF-REGULATE UNDER WHITE HOUSE RULES? EXPERTS WEIGH IN

The study comes as the U.S. works to strengthen its domestic chip sector. The CHIPS Act, which sets aside money for new manufacturing sites, research and development, was signed into law on Aug. 9, 2022. 

The Commerce Department is overseeing the $39 billion in manufacturing subsidies stipulated under the act, with companies like Intel, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Samsung Electronics saying they will apply for the grants.

The law also created a 25% investment tax credit for building new chip factories, or fabs, worth $24 billion.

GOOGLE, MICROSOFT AND OPENAI TO MAKE VOLUNTARY COMMITMENTS ON AI SAFETY AT WHITE HOUSE

While the SIA said the new factories will create jobs, the projected shortage will include computer scientists, engineers and technicians. According to the study, roughly half of the future chip industry jobs will be engineers.

“This has been a problem that we’ve been facing for a long time,” SIA President John Neuffer said. “But with the CHIPS Act in particular, and the kind of the bending the arc of history towards more manufacture here on U.S. shores, it really kind of threw this acute problem into bold relief.”

BUSINESSES LOOK TO SELF-REGULATE THE USE OF AI IN HIRING

The shortage of skilled chip workers is part of a larger shortfall of science, technology, engineering and math graduates in the U.S., according to the report. By the end of 2023, 1.4 million positions may go unfulfilled.

Reuters contributed to this report.