In 2024, McKinsey & Co. estimated a talent gap between 59,000 and 146,000 engineers and technicians before the end of the decade. As the United States invests in reshoring chip manufacturing, the industry faces a dilemma: How can the semiconductor workforce scale to meet the coming demand? To fill the gap, some universities—including UC Santa Barbara—are also offering microcredential programs separate from traditional degree programs. In these bite-size courses, which can be as short as a week or two, future engineers and technicians can gain critical hands-on experience in clean-room fundamentals or an introduction to topics like lithography or etching. Deploying short, standardized, and skill-based courses across the country could be an essential part of building a sustainable U.S. semiconductor workforce.
