“If we do not act together quickly, we will choke our own growth, ” says Manocha.

New talent is key to sustaining robust growth that has broken all semiconductor industry records.

Semiconductor revenues jumped 22% for the year to nearly $450 billion in 2017.

Semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales rose 36% and, with materials, topped $104 billion. In 2018, chip revenues are forecast to increase 7% and semiconductor equipment more than 11%.

“Talent has become a pinch point,” says  Manocha,  “in Silicon Valley alone, SEMI member companies have thousands of open positions. Globally there are more than 10,000 open positions. Attracting new candidates and developing a global work force are critical to sustain the pace of innovation and growth.”

SEMI recently developed a roadmap to attract and develop talent across regional, diversity and skill set needs. Manocha’s letter urges SEMI member CEOs to support a collective workforce development roadmap aimed at building and sustaining a talent pipeline for SEMI’s global membership.

As part of its workforce development initiatives, over the past 17 years SEMI has delivered a hands-on, STEM-based career exploration program to encourage high-school students to pursue STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) educations and careers.

Through its High Tech U (HTU), SEMI has touched more than 6,000 high school students at SEMI member industry facilities in 11 U.S. states and nine countries. Over 70%  of high school students attending HTU have pursued STEM educations and careers.