Part of the reason for this skill gap is that people in the United States who are already working in the semiconductor industry tend to have experience in chip design rather than manufacturing. For years, many U.S. companies have ordered chips from overseas contract manufacturers, such as Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturers, instead of embarking on the very expensive process of manufacturing, testing, and packaging the chips themselves. .. But as geopolitical tensions with China increased, U.S. leaders began pushing to build the capacity to produce advanced chips in the U.S. as an insurance policy in the event of a trade collapse. ..
In preparation for the day, the Trump administration has pressured Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturers to build fabs in US soil where advanced chips can be mass-produced. But in Arizona, where the fab will be built, it’s difficult to find people with the same skills and work ethics as the company’s new factory, Morris Chang, the company’s founder, said last year’s symposium. Said in.
Attracting highly skilled foreigners who can help train the American workforce, according to a report from the Security and Emerging Technologies Center, which estimates that “at least 3,500 foreign-born workers will be needed.” Is essential to success, at least in the short term. Staff will be assigned to the new American fab. Some may come from American universities, but many will need to be hired from Taiwan and South Korea, he said.
I am also worried about the situation of higher education in this area. The number of American graduate students studying in semiconductor-related fields has been almost flat since 1990, and the number of foreigners enrolled in those fields at American universities has tripled. According to the Winning the Tech Talent Competition, a report by the Institute for Strategic International Studies, only 23,000 Americans will receive a PhD in science, mathematics, engineering and technology in 2025, and 17,000 foreigners. Students are expected to graduate. In those areas, I graduate from an American university.
It’s great to help non-citizens close the yawning gap with China, which is estimated to get 77,000 PhDs that year. However, the talent of foreigners cannot be taken for granted. Since 2016, the number of foreign enrollments in all American universities has been declining every year, and some are concerned that foreign enrollments in semiconductor-related fields may also be at risk in the future.
Philip Wong, a professor of electrical engineering at Stanford University, told me that US traction isn’t what it used to be. Outstanding students from Asia continue to flock to Stanford, but some of them have missed the opportunity to stay in the United States in favor of working in the vibrant tech industry near their homes, he said. rice field. “They don’t have to come to the United States to get a good career,” Wong told me. “Looking back decades, there is no reason for students to come to the United States.”