# US chip fabs face massive 157,000 worker shortfall, mere 3% of US engineering grads enter chipmaking — despite six-figure salaries, US chip manufacturers are in dire need of engineers and technicians — retained record > Retained news record from news:toms-hardware. Canonical: https://highsignal.app/data/records/aa8a07b0e5c1c835 [← sources](https://highsignal.app/data) source: [news](https://highsignal.app/data/news) (news:toms-hardware) published 2026-09-18 11:30 ingested 2026-09-19 02:56 [original source ↗](https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/semiconductors/us-chip-manufacturers-are-in-dire-need-of-engineers-and-technicians-experts-suggest-a-shortage-of-up-to-157-000-semiconductor-workers-by-2030) ## retained text ``` US chip fabs face massive 157,000 worker shortfall, mere 3% of US engineering grads enter chipmaking — despite six-figure salaries, US chip manufacturers are in dire need of engineers and technicians The rush to build semiconductor plants in the U.S. is fueling the demand for engineers and technicians. Even as chipmakers race to build the most advanced chips inside the United States, experts are saying that their efforts are facing one monumental challenge: a massive shortage of skilled workers to run the fabs and factories. According to CNBC, global consulting firm McKinsey and the SEMI Foundation suggest the industry will have up to 157,000 positions that could remain unfilled by 2030. “I’m concerned,” Samsung semiconductor division EVP Jon Taylor told CNBC in an interview. “We just don’t see that there’s enough technical people in the pipeline.” The McKinsey report says that only 3% of U.S. engineering graduates end up working in the semiconductor industry, and that 73% of chip companies are finding it hard to fill engineering roles. This is a huge contrast to other tech jobs, which saw record layoffs by June of this year, when over 40,000 positions were axed, ostensibly largely due to AI. The massive demand for memory and storage chips driven by the AI boom, combined with Washington’s efforts to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to the United States, has led to the buildup of multiple fabs and facilities dedicated to it. TSMC was one of the first companies to kick off this building spree, when it started construction on its Arizona campus in 2021. The site started churning out chips last year, with the company committing another $100 billion in July 2026 to build four more 2nm fabs. Intel’s Ohio One plant, which was, at one point, America’s largest fab complex, is also underway, with the site expected to start production between 2030 and 2031. The big three memory makers — Micron, Samsung, and SK hynix — are also planning or have recently completed major expansions in the U.S. Samsung is starting advanced semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S., with its Taylor, Texas, fab entering risk production this year. The fab is targeting an output of 50,000 wafer starts per month, and it is expected to create 3,500 jobs. “We’re hiring engineers, we’re hiring technicians, we’re hiring people in the supply chain,” Taylor told the publication. “Everybody wants and needs the same thing, and it’s a bit of a race against time right now as everything is starting to come online.” Micron is also currently building its Boise, Idaho, memory chip fab, which began construction in 2022 and is projected to begin wafer production by 2027. The company has also formally broken ground on its $100-billion New York “megafab,” with aims to produce 40% of its global output within the U.S. by the 2040s. Aside from these massive manufacturing sites, it has also committed $10 billion toward new research labs in the U.S., to be built near the global Micron R&D center in Boise. Finally, SK hynix also started construction of its first HBM plant in the U.S., with its West Lafayette, Indiana, campus dedicated to packaging these crucial components for AI data centers. There have also been rumors that the South Korean company is in talks with Intel to either lease space at its Ohio One factory or launch a joint venture alongside other AI hyperscalers to build memory chips in the U.S. All these construction projects, plus the requisite supply chains, will necessitate thousands of workers. Local universities like Purdue University and Arizona State University are already investing millions of dollars to help prepare a capable workforce, with the former launching degrees in 2022 focused on semiconductors. Samsung and Intel are also investing in various programs, including internships and scholarships, to help secure a future workforce for the companies. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. However, salary is one major concern listed by the SEMI Foundation. U.S. chip fabs typically pay $127,000 to $187,000, with senior staff getting $238,000 or more. While this is a more-than-competitive salary in the U.S., it’s dwarfed by the bonuses recently offered by Samsung and SK hynix in South Korea, which have reached hundreds of thousands of dollars. With the projected worker shortfall, we should expect the job offers from these semiconductor companies to catch up with their eastern counterparts if they want to secure and maintain talent here in the U.S. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds. Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics. - Giroro If engineers refuse to work for your company, the problem isn't with the engineers. The problem is with your company.Reply An American engineer isn't going to live onsite and work 16-hour days at $6 an hour. Engineers are professionals, not factory workers. TSMC refuses to offer standard length work weeks, competitive salaries, and is constantly going out of their way to publicly insult the both the local an national talent pool - not that Arizona had a significant talent pool or even supply chain advantages in the first place. Who wants to move to a company town in middle-of-nowhere Arizona? Not high-performing working professionals looking to advance their career, that's for sure. I still get the strong impression TSMC didn't read the fine print, and is still very angry that their greedy CHIPS act giga-cash-grab had some strings attached, and that any study they help put out is all just a part of their high-budget, corporate-funded whining. But that's fine. If they don't want to be here, they can just abandon their infrastructure, pay the penalties, and let a more professional company take over. I'll do it. Give me your campus TSMC. My boardroom will be significantly less toxic, and we will pay scientists to prove it. - DS426 Reply Yeah, not sure why it's that hard for them to figure out that 24-hour operations can be split into three 8-hour shifts. Common stuff in the U.S. for ages, such as for Police departments, the automotive industry, and the manufacturing sector in general.Giroro said:If engineers refuse to work for your company, the problem isn't with the engineers. The problem is with your company. An American engineer isn't going to live onsite and work 16-hour days at $6 an hour. Engineers are professionals, not factory workers. TSMC refuses to offer standard length work weeks, competitive salaries, and is constantly going out of their way to publicly insult the both the local an national talent pool - not that Arizona had a significant talent pool or even supply chain advantages in the first place. Who wants to move to a company town in middle-of-nowhere Arizona? Not high-performing working professionals looking to advance their career, that's for sure. I still get the strong impression TSMC didn't read the fine print, and is still very angry that their greedy CHIPS act giga-cash-grab had some strings attached, and that any study they help put out is all just a part of their high-budget, corporate-funded whining. But that's fine. If they don't want to be here, they can just abandon their infrastructure, pay the penalties, and let a more professional company take over. I'll do it. Give me your campus TSMC. My boardroom will be significantly less toxic, and we will pay scientists to prove it. Benefits, decent pay, acceptable hours -- this is just the norm in Western society. It's not what TSMC wants, but when demand is high as it is and supply is straggling, they're going to have to compromise. Or don't and let those labor prospects go to Intel, Micron, Samsung, etc. This industry isn't living in a vacuum here. These labor shortfall numbers also tell me that their internship and co-op opportunities are too low. The intern-to-permanent employee conversion rate is about 63% in the U.S.. - LordVile Reply Don’t 12 hour continental shifts exist in the US?DS426 said:Yeah, not sure why it's that hard for them to figure out that 24-hour operations can be split into three 8-hour shifts. Common stuff in the U.S. for ages, such as for Police departments, the automotive industry, and the manufacturing sector in general. Benefits, decent pay, acceptable hours -- this is just the norm in Western society. It's not what TSMC wants, but when demand is high as it is and supply is straggling, they're going to have to compromise. Or don't and let those labor prospects go to Intel, Micron, Samsung, etc. This industry isn't living in a vacuum here. These labor shortfall numbers also tell me that their internship and co-op opportunities are too low. The intern-to-permanent employee conversion rate is about 63% in the U.S.. - Eximo Reply Occasionally. Four 10-hour shifts with three days off is more common. 36 hours counts as full time, so it isn't common for companies to want someone getting three 12hour shifts. Then they have to pay out full benefits. Doesn't mean there aren't places that will take people for two shifts and expect them to have a second job.LordVile said:Don’t 12 hour continental shifts exist in the US? - LordVile Reply Land of opportunity that is /sEximo said:Occasionally. Four 10-hour shifts with three days off is more common. 36 hours counts as full time, so it isn't common for companies to want someone getting three 12hour shifts. Then they have to pay out full benefits. Doesn't mean there aren't places that will take people for two shifts and expect them to have a second job. - Eximo Reply Yeah, non-unionized labor in the US is pretty bad. And the unions have their own silly problems. Seniority over competence being the worst part.LordVile said:Land of opportunity that is /s Salaried jobs are a decent middle ground. But unlike Europe we have minimal time off. (Many hourly workers can basically just opt to not work in lieu of vacation time) ``` document fetched 2026-09-19 02:56 · canonical https://tomshardware.com/tech-industry/semiconductors/us-chip-manufacturers-are-in-dire-need-of-engineers-and-technicians-experts-suggest-a-shortage-of-up-to-157-000-semiconductor-workers-by-2030