Maria Hollenhorst/Marketplace
Students in Mesa Community College’s Semiconductor Technician Quick Start Training Course practice wearing bunny suits, a required work uniform at manufacturing plants.
This story originally aired on “Marketplace” on May 2.
As part of Marketplace’s ongoing series “Breaking Ground,” we examine how trillions of federal dollars are changing the government’s role in the economy in complex, invisible, and sometimes contradictory ways. We have been investigating the impact of CHIPS and the Science Act on Phoenix.
In 2022, President Joe Biden’s administration is betting $52.7 billion on the semiconductor industry by passing the CHIPS Act, saying it will “revitalize domestic manufacturing” and create “high-wage American jobs.”
So far, that bet appears to be paying off. Intel, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Samsung, and others have announced investments in U.S. semiconductor production with CHIPS Act funding commitments.
The semiconductor industry estimates that up to 70,000 workers will be needed to operate the new chip factories. To meet some of that demand, the industry is partnering with universities to help train the future semiconductor workforce.
But now, with CHIPS Act funds in the midst of a multi-year factory construction process, hiring is slowing.
“Marketplace” host Kai Rizal and Washington Post columnist and “Marketplace” contributor Heather Long talk about the Mesa project, which aims to prepare students for entry-level jobs in chip manufacturing. I visited a night class at a community college.
The 10-day quick start program was created in partnership with industry companies such as TSMC and Intel. The students I met there hoped the course would change their lives. But when I checked back a month later, those same students were having trouble finding jobs.
