By Al Thompson, Vice President of U.S.-Canada Government Affairs
The U.S. is on the precipice of a once-in-a-lifetime manufacturing boom for the world’s most important technology – semiconductors– and Intel is leading the way to revitalize American semiconductor manufacturing. With support from the CHIPS and Science Act, Intel plans to invest more than $100 billion over five years as we expand our operations in Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, and Ohio.
Altogether, it is a big step forward toward increased supply chain resiliency, which is critical to U.S. economic and national security.
The benefits of the CHIPS and Science Act are significant. A strong manufacturing sector powers economic development, spurs investments and job creation beyond the industry, and is core to our nation’s security and global competitiveness. But none of this is possible without people.
To support investments now and into the future, the nation must address the country's chronic shortage of trade, manufacturing, and high-skilled labor. We think of it as a three-pronged issue that requires the support of unions, the education sector, policymakers, and industry.
It starts with the construction trades.
Expanding chip manufacturing capacity cannot begin without a reliable and available construction workforce. To ensure we have the workers we need, we have long-standing relationships with local trades and other stakeholders, and we are now working closely with them to complete our fabs on time.
At the Ohio site alone, we are expecting to create over 60 million hours of construction work, supporting over 7,000 trades workers at the peak of construction. This is the state’s largest-ever economic development project. To get it done right and on time, we are working closely with our contractors to recruit and train sufficient plumbers, pipefitters, electricians, metal and iron workers, laborers, cement finishers, and elevator constructors.
But we are up against a national shortage of people working in trades. Thankfully, the Ohio State Building and Construction Trades Council has pulled out all the stops—recruitment fairs, veteran programs, and more—to expand recruitment and training efforts in critical areas.
Expanding the domestic talent pipeline.
The U.S. has an urgent need to prepare people for the jobs of the future. The Manufacturing Institute projects that 2.1 million jobs will go unfilled because of a lack of skilled labor. We need to ensure anyone who wants to develop the skills for new job opportunities has an opportunity to do so.
We are investing $100 million over the next decade to establish new education and outreach programs to proactively connect the communities where we are investing to work opportunities at Intel and our suppliers. This includes establishing semiconductor education and research collaborations with universities, community colleges, minority-serving institutions, and technical educators across the U.S. to support student research, education, and retention programs in preparation for semiconductor careers.
For example, the Intel-developed Semiconductor Technician “Quick Start” Program is making a meaningful impact in expanding the domestic talent pipeline. We have great relationships with community colleges and created a two-week course with no cost to students if they complete it. Participants learn the basics of how semiconductors are made, and if they are interested in pursuing a career, we can continue the training, and we even hire from this program. Interest in the program is growing, with waiting lists at Portland and Maricopa Community Colleges.
Intel is also engaging with government agencies, institutions of higher education, and other education stakeholders to support students in STEM fields from all walks of life. Intel, for example, is funding a new partnership between the National Science Foundation and the Semiconductor Research Corporation to expand research opportunities for undergraduate students across the country. We support scholarships for underrepresented and veteran students pursuing degrees in STEM fields through the Intel Scholars Program, which also includes exposure to Intel jobs, mentors, networking, and training opportunities. Intel has long funded fellowships through the National GEM Consortium, which aims to increase diversity in the technology sector by supporting underrepresented advanced-degree students in engineering and science fields.
In collaboration with Autodesk, Intel helps students and advances social equity through other avenues, including The Hidden Genius Project, a national nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California, that trains and mentors African-American youth in technology creation, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills. Through this collaboration, Intel technology and AI for Youth training were scaled to a national cohort of community-based organizations, school districts, and individuals, effectively reaching thousands of students across the country.
A national strategy for high-skilled workers.
Our future economic and national security depends on having the talent we need at every skill level—including advanced degree workers in critical engineering and other scientific fields. However, there are numerous positions in the industry experiencing a shortage of qualified U.S. workers. As Aaron Chatterji, a former senior economist with the White House Council of Economic Advisers who joined me in a recent panel with POLITICO, said, the workforce gap is a huge issue in executing the CHIPS and Science Act and the broader semiconductor strategy.
Meeting this challenge requires new efforts to improve STEAM education in the country, as well as improved immigration pathways for foreign high-skilled talent. Through our STEM education programs and partnerships, Intel actively enhances pathways to the technology sector by championing underrepresented talent across diverse ethnicities and races, genders, and geographic locations, to ensure a fully inclusive array of skills in STEM fields.
Intel is doing what it can to increase education and workforce development pathways here at home. For example, in Ohio, we are spending $50 million working with over 80 Ohio institutions of higher education to develop programs to attract and train semiconductor talent. We know that the fabs we’re building in Ohio can’t be fully operational if we can’t fill all the jobs needed to run them. So, we are working with educational partners across the state to meet the challenge.
We are also working with federal policymakers to advocate for changes to the country’s immigration system. High-skilled immigrants graduating from U.S. advanced degree programs are essential to address the gaps in critical STEM skills here in the U.S. These immigrants have generally been trained at leading U.S. universities and are poised to help develop the future generation of products and technology that will help the U.S. maintain its position as a global leader in the technology sector.
We need immigration reform to access that talent. As a company, we believe that anytime anyone graduates with an advanced STEM degree in the U.S., a green card should come stapled to the diploma.
Intel’s proven leadership in manufacturing.
Our operations today support more than 721,000 jobs across the U.S. and add more than $102 billion to the U.S. GDP. Closing the projected talent gap is critical to the success of the U.S. economy, the semiconductor industry, and our company.
We are invested in solving this challenge. We are supporting trade professions to get these factories up and running, partnering with local community colleges and universities to develop the programs and curriculum to train a U.S. workforce, and advocating for immigration reform that will enable the U.S. to meet its workforce needs.
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