Powering the Economy One Chip at a Time

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), in 2022 there were 16.1 million manufacturing workers age 16 and older in the United States, about 10.0% of the civilian workforce.

The ACS categorizes semiconductor workers under electronic component and product manufacturing. In 2022, there were 682,965 electronic component and product manufacturing workers or 4.2% of all manufacturing workers. The majority were non-Hispanic White (53.2%) and native born (67.4%).

Men accounted for around three-quarters of the electronic component and product manufacturing workforce (Table 1). Although women made up nearly half (47.3%) of the U.S. working population, they remained underrepresented in the manufacturing industry as well as in electronic component and product manufacturing.

One challenge for women entering and remaining in the labor force is access to child care. 

The vast majority (70.5%) of women working in the electronic component and product manufacturing industry did not have children under 18 living with them. In 2022, about 19% of working women in this sector had their own children between ages 6 and 17 only, while a smaller percentage (6.5%) of working women had preschool age children (under 6) only.  

To help recruit and support workers with children, particularly working women, semiconductor manufacturers seeking government incentives as part of the CHIPS Act are required to include a strategy for workers to access affordable, high-quality child care. 

The electronic component and product manufacturing workforce has an older age profile than the overall workforce (Figure 1).  

In 2022, 52.1% of workers in electronic component and product manufacturing were ages 45 and over. Workers between ages 16 to 34 made up around 28% of the semiconductor related workforce compared to 35.3% of all workers.

Electronic component and product manufacturing workers were more likely than the total employed population to have a bachelor’s degree or higher: 31.3% of those age 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree and 25% had a graduate degree. About 5% had less than a high school degree. 

Six of the selected occupations with 10,000 or more electronic component and product manufacturing industry workers are classified as science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) occupations.

About 68,000 workers were employed as miscellaneous engineers. Another 42,850 worked as electrical and electronics engineers.

The prominent role of engineers in the electronic component and product manufacturing industry is not surprising since the creation of electrical circuits or chips requires designing, building and testing highly specialized technologies — all skill sets associated with engineering-related occupations.

In 2022, about 4 out of 10 electronic component and product manufacturing workers with at least a bachelor’s degree had a degree in engineering (43%) while 16.4% majored in business. 

As the demand for semiconductor chips grows, training and mobilizing workers will benefit from regional partnerships to help build facilities and public and private investments to expand training programs. These efforts are being met by community colleges and state-led construction projects.