Fresh off earning a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, Abigail Nguyen noticed a plethora of Bay Area job openings at semiconductor companies.
The recent UC Berkeley grad didn’t feel confident applying for roles at those companies, though. She figured she had a knowledge gap that would be a barrier to landing a job in the industry.
But then a friend convinced her to attend the SEMICON West conference in San Francisco, which was free for students.
Nguyen met people in the industry from a chemical engineering background, and she realized she could plausibly get a job in semiconductors.
“It changed my perception of the industry and what it takes to be successful in the industry,” Nguyen said. “There are just so many things you can do, and if you’re confident and learn and try new things, then it’s the place for you.” She’s now applying for industry jobs as a process engineer.
It is a success story semiconductor companies, academic institutions, and public agencies in California hope to replicate thousands of times through recruiting events, increased outreach, and new apprenticeships to fill the sector’s booming demand for workers.
The uptick in demand is driven in part by a federal law passed in 2022, meant to boost research, development, and production of semiconductors in the United States. The nation only produces about 10% of the global supply of semiconductors today, even though California is the birthplace of the technology.
The opportunities will be especially abundant in California, where the semiconductor industry employs more than 63,000 people. California has the highest total number of semiconductor factories, approximately 627, along with some $10.2 billion in annual semiconductor exports.
“The semiconductor was born in California, and California has continued to lead the nation in all things semiconductor related over the last several decades,” said Derek Kirk, senior advisor for economic policy in the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. “We are bullish on the semiconductor industry.”
The SEMI Foundation, the nonprofit arm of semiconductor and microelectronics industry association SEMI, launched several efforts — like the Workforce Pavilion at SEMICON West — in recent years aimed at creating new pipelines into the workforce. One of the first hurdles, though, is awareness of the industry and the career opportunities it presents.
“We’re kind of invisible,” said Shari Liss, executive director of the SEMI Foundation, even though semiconductors are central to much of our everyday technology. She often finds herself explaining this to students who have never thought about chip design but are glued to their phones.
The SEMI Foundation leads workforce development programs and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives with more than 3,000 semiconductor companies globally. It currently has several grants for workforce development efforts in California, supporting customized trainings, registered apprenticeships, and other “earn and learn” models.
The SEMI Foundation launched the SEMI Career and Apprenticeship Network last fall with several partners nationwide. In California, the James Irvine Foundation provided a $1.7 million grant over three years to support the SEMI Foundation in becoming an intermediary for registered apprenticeships, with an emphasis on working with community-based organizations for outreach and awareness.
When Foothill College received a grant from the state-funded California Apprenticeship Initiative, it tapped the SEMI Foundation to do outreach to employers along with curriculum development and project management. Through the grant, the SEMI Foundation and partners supported the launch of the first registered apprenticeship program for the semiconductor industry in California, meaning it meets U.S. Department of Labor standards for the amount of time apprentices spend on classroom learning and on-the-job training.
The program offers customized training through community colleges that teach the specialized skills workers need to succeed in high-demand microelectronics jobs. The first group of 11 apprentices in the program last fall was about half women.
A grant for $4.6 million over two years through the state-funded High Road Training Partnerships initiative will support even more custom training. The SEMI Foundation is working with companies such as Applied Materials and Western Digital to understand the technical and soft skills workers need to succeed in entering the industry, along with the upskilling needed to keep moving up in their careers.
“The semiconductor was born in California, and California has continued to lead the nation in all things semiconductor related over the last several decades.”
Derek Kirk, senior advisor for economic policy, Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development
Apprenticeships are a relatively novel concept to the semiconductor industry in the U.S., Liss said. As more semiconductor manufacturing moved overseas years ago, entry-level roles went with them. Training new technicians was not a focus here.
Today, the semiconductor workforce in the U.S. is mostly white and around 75% male, with one-third of the workforce age 55 or older.
“What’s shifting now is, as we’re investing back in manufacturing, there are pathways from community colleges, there are pathways through apprenticeships, there are pathways into these entry-level roles that are new,” Liss said. “We’ll hopefully diversify that talent pipeline.”
Apprenticeships are also important because apprentices are paid as soon as they start the program.
“That’s what allows it to be a really beautiful equity pathway for people,” Liss said.
Infinera Corporation, a San Jose-based manufacturer of optical semiconductors used in telecommunications, was a charter member of registered apprenticeships with the foundation. Infinera helped inform a joint curriculum used by multiple companies and community colleges in training apprentices. Five apprentices are training at Infinera so far.
“Had we tried to do that ourselves, it would have taken us a lot longer to go make all those connections needed to make it work,” said Kim Elise Chrissan, vice president of government affairs operations at Infinera Corporation. “It is really important for us to help address that gap of having the right available workforce here.”
The groundswell of investments in semiconductors and pathways into the industry is part of what gives Nguyen confidence as she looks for a job.
“It is a bit more stable, especially looking at other industries like tech and how much more volatile they are and how they’re doing mass layoffs,” Nguyen said. That the semiconductor industry is growing and companies are planning to manufacture in the U.S., “is all great for me and my comfort in pursuing a job in this industry and hopefully staying.”
Financial support for this story was provided by the Smidt Foundation and The James Irvine Foundation.
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