Strengthening the U.S. Semiconductor Manufacturing Workforce

Center for Security and Emerging Technology | Jack Karsten, Luke Koslosky

United States efforts to expand domestic leading-edge semiconductor fabrication depend directly on securing a specialised workforce to mitigate supply chain concentration risks. Analysis by the Centre for Security and Emerging Technology indicates that front-end manufacturing faces severe bottlenecks in recruiting credentialed engineers and experienced equipment technicians capable of operating high-reliability cleanrooms.

Cleanroom operations demand unique technical competencies. Evaluating 3,441 domestic job postings from January 2023 to April 2025 alongside insights from a May 2025 industry roundtable, the study details workforce requirements across 31 major employers spanning 48 states and the District of Columbia. Across 85 distinct O*NET occupational categories, published vacancies prioritise specialised skills in micro-manufacturing and electronics assembly alongside core operational capabilities. To sustain long-term semiconductor fab expansion, recommendations emphasise aligning formal academic degree programs and registered apprenticeships with real-world technical requirements while expanding recruitment targeting skilled immigrants and underrepresented talent pools.

Comment

Subsidising physical fab infrastructure without parallel human capital expansion creates an operational latency in domestic advanced packaging and front-end fabrication capacity. The labour constraints observed in domestic foundries reflect a structural friction where advanced fabrication equipment remains idle without specialised cleanroom technicians. This dynamic was demonstrated at TSMC Fab 21 in Phoenix, where shortages of qualified tool installation specialists delayed initial 4-nanometer wafer production schedules.

The resulting delay in ramping up domestic leading-edge nodes forces national security acquisition programs to extend reliance on foreign wafer foundries. Downstream, defence microelectronics programs bound by Trusted Foundry requirements face longer lead times for custom application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Consequently, high-reliability military platforms like the F-35 Lightning II remain exposed to maritime supply chain bottlenecks across the Taiwan Strait.

Strategic Question for Discussion

If domestic foundry projects like TSMC Fab 21 face persistent delays in qualifying cleanroom technicians, which vulnerability poses a greater risk to defence microelectronics: extended reliance on legacy Trusted Foundry nodes or reliance on foreign supply chains across the Taiwan Strait?

The available evidence points toward extended foreign supply chain exposure as the more acute vulnerability, given the multi-year qualification timelines required for military-grade ASICs. While legacy Trusted Foundry facilities offer secure production, they lack the advanced process nodes required for modern signal processing and radar suites. Consequently, defence acquisition timelines remain structurally dependent on East Asian fabrication hubs until domestic cleanroom workforce constraints are resolved.

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