Arizona is rapidly becoming a mecca for semiconductor manufacturers. The labor pool in Arizona is also creating a challenge.Intel already employs 12,000 people and seeks 3,000 more for its expanded facilities. TSMC will have to compete in an already low-unemployment region when seeking talent for its new plant.
Steve Brewer, a Dallas native, has recognized a lucrative and underserved market by helping to provide a much needed workforce to meet the construction needs of the behemoths leading the way.
This is the first advanced chip manufacturing facility TSMC is developing outside of its home market. Generally, these plants take about 12 to 15 months from groundbreaking to equipment move-in when they are built in Taiwan. However, the challenges presented in building in a foreign country make this timeline much longer.
Despite the delays in construction, TSMC expects it will still reach its production start in early 2024. The timeline for installing and testing equipment will be shorter, but the production should begin on time.
Source poised to double workforce in semiconductor industry – tens of thousands of jobs
“Arizona will be the epicenter for the semiconductor industry”
“Demand for semiconductors is through the roof,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said during an exclusive interview.
Your car is made with microchips. So is your smartphone. And your thermostat. And the robotic vacuum that roams your floors and cleans up after the kids.
The United States only manufactures about 12% of semiconductors, and Raimondo says the nation is vulnerable because of it.
“We purchase 80% of the most sophisticated semiconductor chips from Taiwan. And so, if Taiwan were to say, ‘No chips to America,’ it would grind our economy to a halt almost immediately. and it would be a real national security problem.”
Lawmakers in Washington D.C. are considering legislation called the CHIPS Act that would pump $52 billion worth of incentives into the semiconductor industry. “You could easily see Arizona going from 30,000 jobs to 60,000 or 70,000 jobs if this bill passes,” Raimondo projected.
The growth is already happening. Last year, Intel announced a $20 billion expansion in Chandler. And Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation is making a $12 billion investment in a new Phoenix facility. “What we’re seeing here in Arizona is not only growth in these incredible leaders but also in the entire supply chain,” said Sandra Watson, the president and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority. “We have over 200 semiconductor companies here in Arizona today.”
“Ten years from now, Arizona will be known as the world-leading advanced manufacturing location for the semiconductor industry. I believe that we have all of the critical components to continue to advance and accelerate at the pace that the industry needs us to,” Watson added. “I believe Arizona will be the epicenter for the semiconductor industry in the future.”
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