To help meet the demands of new fabs being built in the United States, apprenticeships are emerging as a key strategy for scaling up the talent pipeline.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), for example, sees apprenticeships as critical to supporting its workforce needs as it looks to staff two big fabs.
Developing people—giving them the skills and the on-the-job experience they’ll need to secure a permanent post—takes time, especially because there are unique skills needed that aren’t immediately available.
TSMC’s recently announced apprenticeship program in the Phoenix area focuses on developing people for a facility technician role by providing 2,000 hours of on-the-job training in four key skills areas: water treatment, gas and chemicals, electrical, and mechanical. Courses are provided by TSMC’s technical-instruction partner, Maricopa Community Colleges.
Mentorship is critical to the process: Apprentices are paired with mentors for one-on-one guidance.
TSMC identified technicians as a focus area based on its hiring needs over the next few years. The company is working with the entities in Arizona that are responsible for workforce development in the state and its various municipalities, including the Workforce Arizona Council.
NXP Semiconductor has also been working with Maricopa since early last year. The company began looking at developing apprenticeship programs in mid-2022. NIIT has helped the company map out the process for developing a semiconductor equipment technician apprenticeship, which encompasses multiple specialty areas.
Apprenticeships fall into NIIT’s broader responsibility of executing a national strategy to build the talent pipeline to support strategic industry sectors.
NIIT is the only federally recognized entity contracted by the U.S. Department of Labor to establish and expand registered apprenticeships throughout the semiconductor and nanotechnology-related industry supply chain.
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Gary Hilson is a freelance writer with a focus on B2B technology, including information technology, cybersecurity, and semiconductors.