(Bloomberg) — The Biden administration is launching a program to cultivate the U.S. computer chip workforce, aiming to avoid a labor shortage that threatens to undermine domestic semiconductor production.
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The program, described as an alliance of workforce partners, will use part of the $5 billion in federal funding set aside for a new National Semiconductor Technology Center. The NSTC plans to award grants for up to 10 workforce development projects with budgets of $500,000 to $2 million.
The center will also launch additional application processes in the coming months and staff will determine the total level of expenses once all proposals have been considered.
The money comes from the Chips and Science Act of 2022, a landmark law that set aside $39 billion in subsidies to boost U.S. chip manufacturing, as well as $11 billion for semiconductor research and development, including the NSTC. Companies have committed to investing more than 10 times more in response to the incentives – an increase that is expected to reshape the global semiconductor supply chain. Monday’s effort is the first funding opportunity for workforce-focused legislation.
Industry and government officials have warned that these new factories could fail without significant investment in labor. Some estimates predict that the US will have a shortage of 90,000 technicians by 2030 – when the country aims to produce at least a fifth of the world’s most advanced chips.
“It is imperative that we develop a national semiconductor workforce ecosystem that can support the industry’s anticipated growth,” said Michael Barnes, senior manager of workforce development programs at Natcast, the nonprofit created to operate the NSTC. .
Since Biden signed the Chip Act two years ago, more than 50 community colleges have announced new or expanded programs related to semiconductors. Chips Act’s four biggest manufacturing awards – to Intel Corp., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Samsung Electronics Co. and Micron Technology Inc.
The Commerce Department released its 12th grant from that manufacturing program on Monday: $6.7 million to Rogue Valley Microdevices. That money will support a new factory in Florida focused on chips with defense and biomedical applications.
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