The global semiconductor industry is experiencing a paradox. Despite registering record revenues of US $ 627.6 billion in 2024pulled by the advance of artificial intelligence, 5G connectivity and the automotive sector, faces an imminent blackout of technical labor.
According to estimates of the semi organization, it will be necessary to hire about one million qualified professionals by 2030 to support the predicted growth rate.
The gap is not just at the base. There is a lack of engineers, technicians, intermediate managers and high level leaders, many of which will need to be recruited outside the chip industry itselfa measure that indicates the degree of urgency of the problem.
Worrying projections in all regions
The impact of scarcity will not be homogeneous. In the United States, the expectation is deficit of 67 thousand professionals in the segment until the end of the decade. Europe is expected to face an exceeding farm of 100,000 engineers, while in the Asia Pacific region the estimate exceeds 200,000.
In addition, the market will require At least 100,000 mid -level managers and 10,000 senior executivesin a scenario where the aging of the labor force aggravates the picture.
Only in the USA, one third of professionals in the field is 55 years or olderand many should retire in the coming years.
Stagnant formation and growing disinterest
Part of the bottleneck graduates in universities. The number of students enrolled in courses linked to Electrical and Microelectronics Engineering has fallen.
In Germany, there was a 6.5% drop in enrollment in Stem areas in 2021While in Ireland only 742 students started studies in electrical engineering in 2017. In the US, this number was 13,767 in 2018.
At the same time, Qualification requirements have changed. Skills in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Embedded Software Development have become more valued than traditional knowledge in analog circuits or system architecture.
According to Semi, 92% of sector executives report difficulty hiring qualified professionals.
The problem is not restricted to training: the turnover is also growing rapidly. In 2024, the expectation was that 53% of semiconductor industry workers left their positionsa jump compared to the 40% of 2021.
The most cited reasons include the absence of growth prospects (34%) and Lack of flexibility at work (33%). “The sector still loses in attractiveness when compared to the giants of technology,” says a report from the association.
Only 60% of managers believe that the image of chip companies is competitive enough in the labor market
Productive concentration expands complexity
The geographical structure of the industry increases the challenges. Although The US concentrates 46.3% of Market Sharea Most production is in Asiawith Taiwan responsible for 65%, China by 15%, South Korea and USA tied with 12%.
The disparity complicates the movement of executives and experts between regions. Highly qualified professionals tend to remain in their countriesunless they receive significant wage offers or wage increases.
Initiatives and reactions still shy
To try to reverse the situation, governments and companies are accelerating investments in training. The US launched Workforce Partner Alliancewith part of the budget of US $ 5 billion from the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC). The program intends to finance 5 to 10 professional training initiatives, with scholarships between $ 500,000 and $ 2 million each.
In Europe, the Chips Act It foresees € 43 billion in incentives for local production. Already the UK, even with a program of £ 1 billion for the next decade, is still far from the capacity necessary to attract large manufacturers.
A structural, non -punctual problem
Beyond training initiatives, retention strategies also gain weight. The technology industry as a whole has an estimated dropout rate of 13.2%.
To circumvent this, companies have been reformulating internal policies: 73% already hire based on skills, and no longer just diplomas or history in the sectormaking room for talents from areas such as software and industrial automation.
Low diversity also draws attention. Only 17% of technical positions are held by womenbelow the 23%industrial average. The change of organizational culture, therefore, will also be crucial to reverse the scenario.
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And Brazil? The crossroads between potential and dependence
Even without significant presence in the manufacture of chips, Brazil is not immune to the global talent crisis in the semiconductor industry. On the contrary, the scarcity of qualified professionals already affects strategic sectors such as telecommunications, energy, industrial automation and digital safety, which depend directly on embedded technologies.
Today, the country has less than a thousand professionals working directly in the design of integrated circuitsaccording to estimates from universities such as UFRGS and UNICAMP. Academic formation is still outdated in many institutions, and investments in R&D are fragile.
CEITEC, a state -oriented state -oriented, was threatened with extinction, a clear sign of the difficulty in turning technical knowledge into a state policy.
The mismatch between industry and gym is evident Also in Brazil
Most technology -based companies in Brazil still operate in isolation, with low collaboration with universities.
Meanwhile, countries such as the United States, Taiwan and South Korea intensify strategic partnerships between government, private sector and educational institutions to ensure technological sovereignty.
If Brazil wants to enter this global ecosystem with relevance, the starting point is the technical training. Invest in training, research scholarships, microelectronics laboratories and integration between areas such as electrical engineering, computer science and physics is urgent.
The window of opportunity is open, but it closes fast.
Society: Semi and Zilicatechcha.
Source: https://www.adrenaline.com.br/hardware/crise-talentos-falta-mao-de-obra-industria-semicondutores/
