When SEMI asks member companies what could hold back their growth, the number one answer is talent, Joe Stockunas, president of SEMI Americas, said at Monday’s SEMICON West press conference. SEMI is expanding its workforce programs in the U.S. and abroad to help close the gap. “Our industry in the U.S. is going to be almost 200,000 people short in the next few years,” said Shari Liss, SEMI’s vice president of global workforce development and initiatives. NNME regional nodes Much of the U.S. effort runs through the National Network for Microelectronics Education (NNME), a $200 million, five-year CHIPS funded initiative with the National Science Foundation and the Department of Commerce. The SEMI Foundation serves as its national hub and operator. In June, NNME announced its first four regional nodes, which bring together more than 325 partners from industry, education, workforce and economic development, and K-12 to build industry-aligned training programs. Each node received a $20 million commitment over five years. As operator, SEMI built the ChipPath career platform, is developing SemiSphere for sharing curriculum and best practices, and tracks how the nodes perform against their commitments. NNME is also launching communities of practice and a Career Lab series of in-person events on college campuses to connect students and job seekers directly with the industry. NSF acting director Brian Stone is scheduled to announce the next phase of NNME on the main stage on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 10:05 a.m. Liss said the federal commitment remains $200 million but acknowledged the scale of the need. “We know it’s a drop compared to what we need from an industry perspective,” she said. “It’s going to take all of us together to build something successful.” Credentials and ChipPath The SEMI Foundation has introduced three industry-validated credentials. An Equipment Maintenance Technician certification combines a 100-question knowledge assessment ($70) with a 50-minute electro-pneumatic systems practical, and micro-credentials ($50 each) cover cleanroom operations and safety and fab maintenance, tools and metrology. Credentials in vacuum technology and gas and chemical distribution systems are planned. ChipPath now lists about 199,000 job postings from 1,280 SEMI member employers. A new employer dashboard launching this week lets companies feature priority openings, search candidates by location, skills, education, certifications and experience, invite job seekers to apply and share candidates with their hiring teams. India, Taiwan and beyond At SEMICON India, SEMI and the India Deep Tech Alliance launched the India Semiconductor Academy to create a national framework for semiconductor talent development aligned with industry-defined skills and credentials. At SEMICON Taiwan, SEMI signed agreements with the Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan, Taiwan’s Ministry of Education and the American Institute in Taiwan to give American students hands-on training opportunities in Taiwan. SEMI’s inaugural Global Schools Academy brought high school students from Taiwan and the U.S. together for five days on semiconductors, AI and sustainability, and its new Chip the Future Challenge is a global innovation and research competition for university and graduate students, with cash prizes. Attendees can see many of these programs at the Workforce Pavilion on the show floor, and talent will be a focus of Thursday’s CEO Summit. The post SEMI Scales Up Workforce Programs as U.S. Talent Gap Nears 200,000 appeared first on Semiconductor Digest .