talent

Shari Liss, executive director of the SEMI Foundation, is determined to help more people discover careers in the microelectronics industry. As a woman and longtime leader in both education and tech, she has a keen understanding of how chip industry jobs are often not visible or accessible to many people. To address this, she is spearheading the SEMI Foundation’s Industry Image and Awareness Campaign. I asked Shari to tell me about herself, her passion for this work, and this important campaign.Williams: When did you join SEMI? What were you doing before? What is your background?Liss: I joined the SEMI Foundation as executive director in September of 2019. I came to SEMI from Ignited, where as CEO I recruited, trained, and placed more than 400 educators in summer fellowships at top companies for transformative professional development that grew the Bay Area’s STEM talent pool and workforce pipelines. I'm an educator, a math geek, a mom, a musician, and a passionate advocate for a stronger, more diverse workforce.Williams: What is the Industry Image and Awareness Campaign?Liss: The Industry Image and Awareness Campaign, which SEMI has been running for several years, aims to dramatically increase awareness of the huge breadth of careers in the microelectronics industry and build its talent pipeline. The current campaign includes national media exposure and education that highlights careers in the U.S. microelectronics industry. It has two main components: a PBS documentary about our industry that will reach up to 60 million households, and an interactive website that will walk visitors through STEM career pathways and provide resources that increase industry awareness and interest, particularly among women, veterans and people of color. Integrated with SEMI’s Global Workforce Development Initiative, the website will help connect prospective talent to job openings while also focusing on the industry’s long-term workforce needs. The platform will function as a seamless point of contact, supporting recruiting and retention for employers while also serving those in need of upskilling or reskilling. It will target current industry workers as well as prospective employees, including students, veterans, and workers in other occupations.The two components will be integrated, with video content from the documentary series embedded on the website to provide inspiring stories from people already working in the industry.Williams: Why is this campaign important? What problem is it trying to solve in our industry?Liss: Currently, SEMI member companies have tens of thousands of open positions. These can only be filled if we aggressively and purposely attack the talent gaps. When we talk with students, soldiers and other diverse communities, they have little awareness of the kind of work there is in microelectronics, the jobs that await them, and the industry itself. Our industry generally does not have the same name recognition or understanding as social media or software companies, and many potential workers don't know about us.Students understand what’s on their phones and tablets – Google, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok – but they don’t know that microelectronics technology powers all of it! STEM talent is already tough to find. Our industry’s relative invisibility makes it even more difficult to find the workers we need. This campaign aims to enlighten and inspire a new generation of innovative workers to join the microelectronics industry. Williams: Why does the microelectronics industry need a more diverse talent pipeline?Liss: The workforce development challenges we face as an industry are layered. We all know that our industry – and our need for a skilled workforce – will continue to grow. We also know that women and people of color are widely underrepresented. They face systemic barriers that start in grade school and continue through each individual’s professional journey. This is not only a significant problem from a social justice and equity standpoint, but it also hampers our companies and our industry.A large body of research shows that more diverse companies are more innovative, productive, competitive, and profitable. They also have less absenteeism, better retention, and greater company and customer loyalty. Our industry cannot fully thrive without a diverse workforce. That’s why reversing this trend is a priority and will take significant investments and systemic changes throughout the entire workforce pipeline. If we do that, we’ll have more successful companies and a dramatically improved industry over the next decade.Williams: Who are our partners in this effort?Liss: We are working with Roadtrip Nation and CAEL, both affiliates of Strada Education.Roadtrip Nation is an Emmy Award-winning media and career guidance nonprofit, whose mission is to empower people to define their own roads in life. Each year, Roadtrip Nation selects socially relevant topics for its narrative-based storytelling projects. Content from these “roadtrips” is then disseminated across a wide range of education and media channels to inspire the next generation with a more inclusive view of the future of work. Roadtrip Nation is creating the video content and the PBS documentary series focuses on the microelectronics industry.The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) is a nonprofit that helps forge a clear, viable bridge between education and career success, providing solutions that promote sustainable and equitable economic growth. CAEL is creating our interactive online platform that will clarify career pathways and guide users in navigating the learning opportunities that connect them to industry jobs and enable upward mobility and access to leadership roles.Williams: How are we engaging our member companies in this work?Liss: Our members and their talent needs are at the core of this work and informing it every step of the way. We are ensuring that the campaign meets these needs as well as those of our university partners, students and workforce development peers in the industry. Through multiple discovery sessions, we are capturing our members’ ideas, hiring challenges, skill gaps and other insights. The campaign’s member-based steering committee is guiding the project.Williams: What kinds of companies and leadership have been involved so far?Liss: Participation has already been incredible, with 38 member companies having joined us for more than 15 hours of discovery sessions and brainstorming. A dozen member companies participate in the steering committee, which is currently defining career pathways and industry needs.Williams: What are the participating companies saying so far?Liss: The response has been amazing! It is truly an unprecedented collaboration. Participants have been effusive about the experience. Here are some of their observations:“It was such a valuable and meaningful discussion. I was so glad to see that so many people from this industry are on the same page – perception, challenge, target audience, action items.”“I enjoyed the sessions very much and the insights from all participants, it is a valuable and meaningful cause.”“These are complex challenges that our industry faces, but kudos to you and SEMI for delving into the big issues and formulating a way forward to raise visibility and elevate perception for the next generation of leadership!”“This project will turn out great in the end! I am amazed at the progress in just a few days.”“I’m excited to see where this project can lead our industry! Thank you for all your hard work and leadership.”“The sequence of events was well structured, organized and focused. I strongly believe that these will be of great benefit to the industry!”Williams: What is the end result we’re working toward?Liss: Through powerful storytelling, amazing networking opportunities, and targeted marketing and outreach tools, we will reach millions of potential employees and open their eyes to the terrific jobs and careers in our industry. The awareness campaign, the website, the videos and the documentary series are all tools that will also reach parents, teachers, school counselors, and industry influences, all while supporting our member companies in hiring.Williams: When can the industry expect to begin to see results of the campaign?Liss: The Roadtrip Nation documentary series will likely air in the first half of 2022, and we anticipate the CAEL website to be live by mid-2022.Williams: What’s the most interesting or powerful lesson you’ve learned so far?Liss: The most powerful thing that I’ve learned is that no matter the company, the leader, or the employee, they all agree on the critical importance of attracting and retaining talent to sustain innovation and industry growth. Because industry awareness and image is such a vital challenge, it’s creating a shared passion across companies and participants. It’s been exciting to see this alignment.Williams: Why are you such a champion of this? What does it mean to you personally?Liss: Throughout my career, I have sought opportunities to grow and scale my impact in STEM education. From being an educator, to an administrator, to running a California-based STEM education nonprofit supporting educators, and now in my work at SEMI, I have always looked for ways to reach more educators and students. As my career progressed, my roles shifted to not just education content, but how to align industry and education. I am passionate about providing students with learning environments that help them understand how the subject matter applies to the real world. When we connect abstract concepts to real-world applications, the lessons tend to be so much more tangible and accessible to kids. It inspires them to want to keep learning those subjects and makes it more likely that they will be excited about what they are studying.At SEMI, I love that I can help form partnerships between the industry and education providers to amplify these messages. I look forward to working with industry stakeholders to provide career opportunities for diverse populations, for soldiers, and for women returning to work.For more information about the Industry Image and Awareness Campaign, contact Shari at [email protected]. Michelle Williams is deputy director of the SEMI Foundation.

Now, more than ever, semiconductor companies are relying on their human resources departments to ensure employee safety, support facility access and hygiene measures, cope with staffing demands and incorporate the rapidly evolving guidelines from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the local state and city mandates. SEMI spoke with Crystal Reich, HR manager at X-FAB Texas, about her participation in the Fab Owners Alliance (FOA) human resources group and the value of collaborating with industry peers on a broad spectrum of topics: from focusing on specific areas such as ensuring employee safety and managing the workforce during a pandemic, to addressing broader organizational challenges such as benchmarking activities and identifying compensation and staffing best practices. SEMI: How did you learn about the FOA human resources group? Reich: I have been part of the FOA HR group since its inception in 2012. Lloyd Whetzel, the CEO at X-FAB Texas, has been very involved with the FOA for several years. When this group was being formed, he let me know about it. I came to the first meeting and have been a part of it ever since. SEMI: What does your participation in the FOA human resources group allow you and your company to do differently? Reich: I am also involved with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), but the FOA HR group provides an excellent opportunity for semiconductor industry HR professionals to collaborate. The group not only covers topics that are specific to the semiconductor industry but also discusses broader topics related to preserving employee well-being during unprecedented challenging times, managing negative emotions, establishing appropriate political expression policies, and creating safe spaces for dialogue. Also, the benchmarking has been fantastic, especially from a compensation and staffing standpoint. It allows us to identify best-in-class recruitment strategies, determine any shortfalls and use this information to improve employee onboarding and development. In addition to discussing these types of issues and trends, we compare and benchmark other HR issues such as policy deployment and legislative trends with colleagues in the industry. SEMI: What are some of the key topics and activities that the FOA HR group has helped you focus on? Reich: X-FAB has been involved in a variety of activities at SEMI. Through the SEMI High Tech U program, we have been able to help college-bound high school students in our community access STEM curriculum and explore careers in technology. We have devised more robust military outreach strategies with the help of the Veterans Program at SEMI, allowing us to recruit and retain excellent technicians from the military. Additionally, benchmarking activities within the FOA HR group have helped us improve our talent acquisition process - especially for positions which are challenging to fill. SEMI: The pandemic brought many significant and unprecedented challenges that affected business continuity. How did your company's participation in the FOA help you navigate these changes? Reich: The FOA has been a great help in addressing the challenges of the global pandemic across several operational collaborative teams. In the early days of the pandemic, as employees moved to remote work, FOA organized a forum that allowed members to share how they dealt with this transition. Constantly changing guidelines and protocols meant that FOA members leaned on each other more than ever to share best practices and lessons from new safety process implementations. FOA offered survey and area-specific team activities, cross-functional operational sessions, and round table discussions at its 2020 Q4 meeting, where members exchanged ideas on how business processes changed during this period and shared what they were doing to ensure business continuity. This provided another excellent opportunity for FOA members to benchmark best practices within the semiconductor industry. SEMI: Would you recommend your peers to join the FOA HR group? Reich: I would highly recommend HR colleagues in the semiconductor industry join this collaborative group. It is a great platform to share ideas, learn from each other, and benchmark with other colleagues in the same industry. The FOA HR Metrics survey is a comprehensive survey covering several different areas within the HR discipline such as compensation, learning and development, tool training, corporate social responsibility, and many others. True to the nature of the FOA, the survey is a result of the collaboration between several HR professionals from Device Maker member companies. Please contact Shilpa Talwalkar at [email protected] if you would like to participate. X-FAB is a member of the SEMI Fab Owners Alliance, an international group of semiconductor and MEMS fab managers and industry suppliers that meet regularly to solve common non-competitive manufacturing issues and improve their business results. Nishita Rao is senior product marketing manager at SEMI.

As the global economy is constantly transformed, the need for new skills has never been higher. The microelectronics industry is thoroughly affected by this urgent need. To develop a workforce fit for the future, it is crucial to invest not only in reskilling and upskilling, but also in skills anticipation and inclusivity. To tackle this need, the European microelectronics ecosystem has adopted many bottom-up initiatives and good practices supporting lifelong learning. Many companies collaborate with universities and training institutes to offer work-based training, and numerous events take place to support women participation in STEM and to attract more young talent to a microelectronics career. Despite these great efforts, further pooling of investments is necessary if Europe is to develop efficient lifelong learning programs. Creating strong skills partnerships is vital for sustainable upskilling and reskilling initiatives. According to the World Economic Forum (2021), greater private-public collaboration on large-scale upskilling and reskilling initiatives could boost global GDP by $6.5 trillion and lead to the creation of 5.3 million net new jobs by 2030. What is the Skills Partnership? Against this backdrop, SEMI Europe is launching the Skills Partnership for Microelectronics. The partnership brings together industrial and education partners from the microelectronics ecosystem to implement the Pact for Skills, an EU initiative which aims to boost upskilling and reskilling investments in key ecosystems for Europe’s competitiveness. Following the high-level roundtable with SEMI Europe’s Advisory Board, hosted by European Commissioners Thierry Breton and Nicolas Schmit, the microelectronics sector was selected in November 2020 as one of the key ecosystems for the first wave of implementation of the Pact, alongside automotive and aerospace/defense. Read more details about the October 2020 roundtable. 59 partners have already endorsed the Pact for Skills for Microelectronics. The Skills Partnership for Microelectronics aims to: Exchange good practices of upskilling and reskilling initiatives of the microelectronics industry Develop sustainable collaboration mechanisms that will monitor microelectronics skill needs, learning from the examples of the METIS blueprint project Promote the microelectronics sector as a career choice Boost the presence of women and other under-represented groups in the sector. The partners will have the opportunity to liaise not only with European, but also with national and regional authorities and clusters, so that a pan-European holistic approach to microelectronics skills development is achieved, and a significant flux of public and private investments on skills is mobilized. To launch this ambitious partnership, SEMI Europe held an initial workshop on March 17. Participants included representatives from the European Commission’s DG Connect, DG Employment and DG Grow, national and regional authorities, and over 70 industry and education partners. The workshop opened with representatives from the European Commission informing all stakeholders about the Pact for Skills initiative, as well as about EU skills-related funding opportunities. In the framework of the Pact for Skills, the Commission will support the ecosystems with a Networking Hub, a Knowledge Hub and a Guidance Resources Hub. These platforms will be available later in 2021 and will act as a one-stop-shop to support the partners and provide information on EU policies and funding opportunities. Other presentations went on to set the scene, presenting the main priorities of the partnership. Françoise Chombar, CEO of Melexis, highlighted the skills challenge experienced by the microelectronics industry. She emphasized the importance of lifelong learning and the danger of the gender disbalance in the sector and underlined the huge innovation potential and profitability that could be unleashed for Europe if the gender gap is successfully addressed. Moreover, the preliminary results of the METIS Microelectronics Skills Strategy were presented, to offer the basis for the partnership’s approach to skills anticipation. The partnership will establish working groups that will investigate the industry needs, leading to a better connection with the offer of education and training programs. Last but not least, the partnership aims to promote national and regional funding of upskilling and reskilling initiatives. In this regard, representatives from national and regional authorities and clusters participated in the meeting. The government of the Basque region had an active role, presenting the region’s priorities, incentives and main actions on promotion of lifelong learning initiatives. The next steps The meeting concluded with an overview of the next steps for the newly launched partnership. In the next workshop, the partners will align on the specific KPIs, as well as on the focus areas where they would like to engage (skills anticipation in semiconductor manufacturing, skills anticipation in semiconductor design, gender balance, etc.). In that framework, the executive board will be established, as well as the working groups that will lead the work of the partnership and set targeted objectives. If you want to take active part in the creation of this large-scale initiative, please fill in your details here. To learn more about the initiative, click here or contact [email protected]. Stefania Gavra is public affairs manager at SEMI Europe.

At the SEMI Foundation, we’re taking steps to support a big, audacious goal – achieving gender parity in the microelectronics industry. Dating to its roots at Bell Labs, Fairchild Semiconductor, and Intel in the late 1950s and 1960s, the semiconductor industry was pioneered by men at a time when far fewer women were in the workforce. While women have made major workforce gains since those early days, we’re still far from achieving anything close to an equitable representation of women. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, only 11.8% of electrical and electronics engineers – and just 8.7% of mechanical engineers – are women. What’s more, research from the American Association of University Women (AAUW), a non-profit that champions equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research, tells us that women drop out of engineering careers more steadily and quickly than men. According to AAUW research, just 30% of women working in engineering are still in the field after 20 years compared to 35% of men. By the time women have been in the field for 30-34 years, that number falls to 19% – while it increases to 39% of men among the same cohort. The small number of women in engineering careers and the fewer still who stay in engineering long term illustrate the troubling gender disparities in the industry. Even with these low numbers, however, there are still women who have managed to not just stay in the industry, but to thrive and lead within it. I talked with four of these women about their professional journeys and how they believe women can be best supported in careers in our industry. The AAUW research report Solving the Equation: The Variables for Women’s Success in Engineering and Computing shows that attrition in engineering is higher among women than men. Passion for math and scienceLam Research VP Gowri Kamarthy took her Ph.D. in chemical engineering from UC Berkeley directly to Lam Research, where she’s spent the past 22 years in technical positions. Today she heads the company’s conductor etch product line.Coming from a family of engineers, including her father and siblings, Dr. Kamarthy had a built-in support system that was essential to her success. She never felt intimidated by male peers after spending her formative years pursuing her passion for math and science.“I may have stood out as a minority in the field of engineering, but there was also a silver lining in standing out,” she said. “People notice you.”Kamarthy realizes that engineering careers are generally perceived as being less compatible with family life, for both women and men.“Anyone who wants work-life balance in an engineering career will have to navigate its special challenges, including the need to work long hours to match the rapid pace of innovation,” Kamarthy said.Drawing from her own experience, Kamarthy offers some career advice. “Perseverance and grit are key to success,” she said. “The other ingredient is luck. I was fortunate to have great bosses at Lam who didn’t see gender first and foremost. Instead, they recognized my ability to deliver on projects and encouraged me to perform at my best.” A love for math and science. The confidence to excel in those subjects. A support system to help her through the bumpy times. These were also truths for Sandy Vos, Ph.D., director of R D at NXP Semiconductors.“I was always good at figuring things out,” says Dr. Vos. “I remember feeling enthralled when I got my first internship because it combined engineering, math, science and manufacturing.” Like Kamarthy, Vos was aware of her status as a woman in a male-dominated field, but it didn’t stop her.“If anything, my gender drove me to prove myself,” Vos said. “And I’ve been fortunate because everywhere I’ve worked, I’ve been a part of a smart and collaborative team.”That doesn’t mean gender never came into play. Whenever it did become an issue, Vos didn’t shy away from hard conversations. She recalls having a conflict on the plant floor with two men who each stood over six feet and were about 100 pounds heavier.“I had a conversation with them, and we figured it out,” she said. “But for a while there, my heart was racing.”Gender felt like a bigger issue when Vos was younger. “Now that I have gray hair, it’s not much of a concern,” Vos said. “But earlier in my career, I started putting Ph.D. on my business card so people would know I could talk technical details.”Though just one of three women in an undergraduate class of 35 engineering students – and with a teaching cohort of all-male professors – Debbie Gustafson anticipated equitable treatment in her college engineering program. She had the same outlook when she began her career in semiconductor manufacturing. But the belief that she’d receive the same treatment as her male peers went largely unfulfilled. This didn’t slow her down. During her first year as CEO of Energetiq, she grew the company’s revenues and valuation. A year later, she steered the company through a successful acquisition by Hamamatsu Photonics. Today Gustafson continues to lead Energetiq as a wholly owned subsidiary, but the road to the top job wasn’t without hurdles. Gustafson muscled through the tough times.“When I started out, I traveled to Japan and Korea when there weren’t other women in technical roles,” she said. “My first meetings were extremely frustrating. I was the only woman in the room, and the men wouldn’t address me. This went on for a year, but I kept coming back and built the relationships.”Now a member of the SEMI Foundation Board of Trustees, Gustafson credits mentors with helping her navigate the nuances of doing business across cultures during those early years.A rocket scientist among usAlissa Fitzgerald might tell you that MEMS isn’t rocket science. But that’s only because she has a Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics, which actually is rocket science. Dr. Fitzgerald worked at a government laboratory and a large defense contractor before she got her Ph.D. and moved to a MEMS industry startup. Though gaining valuable experience, she found the environments too hierarchical and lacking in career development opportunities for young female engineers. As one of the few women engineers at these heavy-duty engineering firms where, in the 1990’s, there were no women in leadership roles, Dr. Fitzgerald sensed that opportunities for her to advance were remote. Fitzgerald started her own firm rather than climb up the ladder of another company, but it turns out, her motivation had nothing to do with gender.“It was the way engineers were treated like Dilbert,” she said. “I felt like a cog in the wheel, working for corporations that weren’t nurturing or appreciative of engineers.”After years of working for other companies, Fitzgerald founded the eponymous AMFitzgerald Associates, a developer of innovative MEMS and sensor solutions for specialty applications. When gender did come up for Fitzgerald, it manifested in men questioning her technical abilities.“Early in my career, I felt like I had to prove myself worthy, even though my degrees were from MIT and Stanford,” she said.Over 3,000 respondents to the Workplace Experiences Survey, sponsored by the Society of Women Engineers and the Center for WorkLife Law at UC Hastings Law, validate Fitzgerald’s experience. 61% of women vs. 35.1% of white men surveyed cited Prove-It-Again Bias – “having to prove themselves repeatedly to get the same levels of respect and recognition as their colleagues.” For engineers of color, that disparity was even worse. 68% of engineers of color (both women and men) reported Prove-It-Again Bias vs. 35% of white men.“For women and people of color, there’s rarely an assumption of competence,” Fitzgerald said.It’s sad but true that we can’t decouple the challenges women face from the challenges people of color face. Both are dramatically underrepresented as chip companies, and women of color represent the smallest percentage of the industry’s workforce and leadership.Inclusivity mattersWorking toward gender equity isn’t just a case of doing what’s right. It’s a case of doing what’s profitable. Research shows that companies with more women on the board perform better.“Given the pace of innovation in semiconductors, we need people from different backgrounds and perspectives to solve the hard problems challenging our industry,” Kamarthy said.Vos appreciates the fact that SEMI is creating a forum of inclusion.“Inclusion starts when you’re young,” she said. “School-aged kids are already making decisions about a future they see as exciting and possible. Our job is to make sure they have the opportunities to pursue what they envision.”Change won’t come magically, though. Fitzgerald believes companies need to make a concerted effort to attract a diverse population.“While I see a disproportionate number of female applicants, I’m more the exception than the rule,” she said. “When male executives call and ask, ‘How are you finding all these amazing female engineers?’ I say, ‘they’re finding me.’”Elevate the storyAchieving gender parity in microelectronics is a daunting task. Fortunately, access to SEMI’s global membership puts us in a unique position to make this deeply complex story clear and relevant to our members, so we can help support the shift.We’re looking at both the stark numbers of women working in microelectronics and at the lack of longevity of women in engineering. We’re elevating the conversation about childhood education. Why are girls passed over in math and science classes in early grade school, and what is the effect of teachers’ lowered expectations for girls taking these classes? What does it mean to be the only in the room? The only woman, or the only woman of color, on a team or in a meeting room. Feelings of isolation or disengagement – or frustration with Prove-It-Again bias – often lead to turnover in an industry that already struggles with retention.Reverse the trendThere’s much SEMI members can do to work toward gender parity in our industry. Look at recruitment, hiring, retention and promotion processes to see how women fare in them. Consider how to create a company culture of self-awareness and inclusion. Ensure equitable pay. Suggest and request women speakers for keynotes and panels at conferences. And offer workplace flexibility to allow women – who often bear most family responsibilities – to take time off or reconfigure schedules so they can help care for children or ailing parents.It’s time for our industry to reverse the trend of gender inequality. Research shows that companies with greater gender and racial parity are more productive, innovative, and profitable. If we welcome and support women in our companies, we will help women – and our industry – reach their full potential.Get involved with SEMIRegister for the Women in Semiconductors (May 3, 2021). This virtual event will include interactive exploration and discussion on strengthening the roles of women in hybrid and remote work environments. Everyone managing teams or experiencing the gender parity challenges and opportunities will benefit from the fresh thinking and best practices that the Women in Semiconductor program is known for.Participate in the SEMI Mentoring Program. By matching mentees with industry leaders and professionals, SEMI Foundation facilitates one-on-one mentoring relationships that benefit all participants. Whether you are a recent university graduate or growing in your microelectronics career and looking for support, participating in the SEMI Mentoring Program will put you on the right track.Participate in the McKinsey Company 2021 Women in the Workplace Study, which looks at representation and the experience of women in companies across the U.S. and offers recommendations on how to retain and support women. Email [email protected]. Shari Liss is executive director of SEMI Foundation. Connect with her on LinkedIn.

With IP the lifeblood of today’s globally integrated microelectronics supply chain, protecting confidential information is vital to electronics companies around the world. Additionally, the industry’s central role in ensuring the national security and economic competitiveness of every country ups the ante. Yet the supply chain is fraught with security risks. Malicious actors never rest in their work to infiltrate factory systems or human resources databases with the intent to steal IP, disrupt production or embed malicious software that can open the door to future attacks. Cyberattacks in the financial and retail sectors typically draw much more public attention than IT security breaches in the semiconductor industry. While large microelectronics companies are not immune to these threats, they tend to deploy some of the world’s strongest security systems and implement robust security policies and protocols to help mitigate risks. Many of their small and mid-sized counterparts with modest IT budgets and limited expertise, on the other hand, struggle to maintain a similar level of cyberhealth – a critical gap in the microelectronics industry, one of the most strategically important in the world. SEMI is out to help change that by collaborating with cybersecurity experts to help members strengthen their cybersecurity defenses. SEMI plans to increase cybersecurity awareness within the microelectronics workforce and offer cybersecurity assessments to member companies through a third-party provider as part of its SEMI Works® program. Working with experts, SEMI will add cybersecurity-related competencies to the SEMI Works® Skills Portal database to help ensure educational and training programs address these skills. As part of SEMI’s recently launched Curated Content Initiative, member companies will have access to workforce training courses on how to raise awareness of cybersecurity risks and mitigate them. Strengthening IP protections across smart technologies and industries driving the next wave of microelectronics industry growth such as artificial intelligence (AI), 5G, medtech and mobility starts in chip design and extends through fabrication to packaging and ultimately end-use applications. Helping to establish a baseline understanding and awareness of cybersecurity risks and how to mitigate them throughout the supply chain is critical. Bolstering cyber protections at small and mid-sized member companies is a key step in that direction. Commercial success, national security and the security of the ubiquitous IT infrastructures at the center of how we work and live depend on it. Mike Russo is vice president of Industry Advancement and Government Programs at SEMI.

The SEMI Smart Manufacturing Americas Chapter, a key driver of the Global Smart Manufacturing Initiative, accelerates awareness of digital and data-driven strategies and implementations to help speed adoption of smart manufacturing. In 2021, the Chapter will focus on expanding its work across the industry to include academic and research initiatives. The semiconductor industry saw an unprecedented focus on improving digital monitoring of manufacturing activity in 2020, partially due to COVID-19. The Americas Chapter shared case studies on new tools and techniques for social distancing in fabs, aides for remote maintenance, and tips for remote workers. The Chapter also introduced its three pillars of Sensing, Connecting and Predicting and offered related programs. The Global Smart Manufacturing Conference (GSMC) highlighted the significance of universities and research institutions in the development of smart manufacturing with their focus on joint research for broad dissemination. To help drive smart manufacturing advances, at GSMC several offered non-proprietary tutorials on topic including the following: Integrating sensors for acquisition – CEA-Leti Applying new AI and ML tools and strategies to manufacturing – Binghamton University Digital tools for planning, qualifying and management and scheduling in fabs – MINES Saint-Étienne. Adding AI tools to robot work in a smart factory – KAIST Institutes By continuously highlighting the activities of these and other institutions through presentations, interviews, articles and blog posts, we will draw more attention to what is on the horizon for smart manufacturing in 2021. The SEMI Smart Manufacturing Americas Chapter also plans to elevate activities important to the Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT), Surface-Mount Technology (SMT) and Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) segments of the industry including programs on inspection, traceability and the SEMI SMT-ELS Standard for SMT automation. Thurston Taylor, marketing expert at Tokyo Electron and Vice Chair of the Americas Chapter, notes that “With increasingly more demanding requirements for bump, assembly and test, smart manufacturing and applied data science are necessary to achieve back-end goals now and in the future.” Also, many companies are implementing smart manufacturing applications and assessing various strategies to increase their smart manufacturing capabilities. Members of the Americas Chapter plan to review and develop self-assessment documents and maturity models that apply to front-end wafer fabs all the way through packaging and assembly facilities. “Moving forward it is imperative for all of us to up the intensity on specific ROI vectors such as quality, cost, productivity, sustainability and safety leveraging our smart manufacturing SEMI framework of Sensing, Connecting and Predicting,” said noted Bobby Mitra, worldwide director of Smart Manufacturing at Texas Instruments and Americas Chapter Chair. “By offering special flagship events, invited talks, ROI case-studies and ROI criteria in maturity models, we’ll bring high value to the smart manufacturing industry.” Chapter members also will begin mapping the skills needed to implement and support increasingly digital manufacturing capabilities, including any new skill sets, to help companies develop their hiring, training and management strategies. The mapping effort aims to support companies in building a strong pipeline of employees who can efficiently manage and operate smart manufacturing facilities. For its part, the Americas Chapter’s Go Green Subcommittee will focus on applying smart manufacturing technology to reducing the electronic industry’s carbon footprint by accurately tracking energy waste improving overall fab efficiency. Stay tuned for details on activities planned for our chapters in Europe, China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia and Taiwan. To learn more about each chapter and how to get involved, please visit the SEMI Smart Manufacturing Hub and sign up for our newsletter. Ayo Kajopaiye is senior project coordinator, Collaborative Technology Platforms, at SEMI.

This February, the U.S. celebrates the 45th anniversary of Black History Month, which highlights the achievements and contributions of Black Americans to our country. It is an important celebration, since those contributions have been historically ignored, marginalized or simply unknown. Their stories, however, abound. Black Americans have contributed tremendously to the technology industry, from Garrett Morgan, who invented the gas masks that protected our soldiers in World War I, to James West, who co-invented microphone technology that is ubiquitous in our electronics.Black History Month is also a complicated celebration, and long criticized for its limited scale. Why would we highlight Black contributions for only one month a year, and why would we separate Black contributions from American contributions? As Morgan Freeman famously said, “Black history is American history.” As a country, we should be elevating the stories and achievements of Black people year-round and using those stories to move our country toward more equity and justice for Black Americans.The origins* of Black History Month are grounded in good intentions. It’s expression, however, can be divisive. But there are many ways we can counteract this.First, we can commit to elevating and celebrating the work, stories, and advancements of Black Americans year-round. Second, we can immerse ourselves in Black history and culture through the eyes of Black Americans. There are extraordinary writers to read – Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad is a masterpiece. Poets like Amanda Gorman are top of mind. And consider artists like Kehinde Wiley, whose portraits hang in the Smithsonian. We can seek out Black voices on our social media feeds and look for Black writers and directors when we next binge on Netflix.We can also consider the experience of Black people within SEMI, and our industry. Black people comprise less than 5% of the U.S. tech workforce, and there are zero – yes, zero – Black CEOs of Fortune 500 tech companies. While this lack of Black representation and leadership undercuts our industry’s capacity for innovation, creativity, and productivity, it is, more importantly, unjust. We will explore the reasons behind this in future blogs.There are extraordinary Black leaders and others in our industry who are leading the charge to create greater diversity, equity and inclusion, but that work should be shouldered by the people who have benefitted from these inequities, not the people who have been held back by them.This February, for Black History Month, I invite you to discover and explore the work of Black creators and thinkers. I also invite you to consider the structures and systems that have led to the inequities in our own industry – and how you can be part of dismantling and rebuilding those systems to create a more just workplace and society.A great place to start is exploring the resources on the Crucial Conversations on the SEMI website. And then, I invite you to consider how we as individuals and how our industry can practice acknowledging and celebrating the contributions of Black Americans throughout the year.* Impactree.com has an excellent short version of the events:“In 1915, historian Carter G. Woodson was frustrated with the underrepresentation of Black Americans in university history classes. Woodson knew Black people had tremendous influence over the infrastructure, culture and history of America, yet their role was solely relegated to that of enslaved people. Along with Jesse E. Moorland, Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History – now called the Association for the Study of African America Life and History (ASALH) – to motivate the inclusion of Black Americans in historical textbooks and discussion. 11 years later, Woodson and the ASALH proposed the second week of February be declared Negro History Week, coinciding with the birthdates of Fredrick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln.50 years later, during the United States’ 1976 Bicentennial, President Gerald Ford recognized Black History Month as a nationally celebrated event to be observed every February. Growing from Negro History Week, Black History Month’s goals echo Woodson’s desire for a more inclusive version of history. In Woodson’s own words, ‘What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice.’”Michelle Williams is deputy director of the SEMI Foundation.

The next time you are on a Microsoft Teams call or write a group email that includes a female colleague, consider this: The next time you pick up the phone to contact her, she might be gone. According to the Women in the Workplace 2020 study by McKinsey Company and LeanIn.org, one in four women are considering leaving their workplaces or downshifting their careers due to work-life challenges stemming from COVID-19, leading to the potential loss of two million women from the American workforce. What is making work so untenable for many women?First, consider the overall U.S. workforce, across all sectors: The industries hardest hit by the pandemic are those dominated by women and people of color: healthcare, retail and hospitality, notably restaurants. These two demographics have been losing their jobs in staggering numbers. In December 2020 alone, according to the National Women’s Law Center, women accounted for 100% of the 156,000 jobs lost that month in the U.S. Second, the double whammy of the closure of daycares and the shift to remote schooling saddled mothers with overwhelming responsibilities. In the tech industry, women faced significant challenges before COVID-19 hit. Although women represent about 47% of entry-level workers in tech, that number dwindles to 20% in C-Suite jobs, with women of color accounting for just 2% of these executive roles. This leads to the challenges of being an “Only” – the only woman or person of color in a team, department or meeting. “Onlys” experience isolation, disengagement and pressure to out-perform male, white colleagues simply to be seen as equals. Women report feeling more exhausted, burned out and excluded than their male colleagues.Layer on the pressures of a pandemic and you’ve got a seriously overstressed female workforce at the breaking point. Fathers and partners are not taking on a fair share of the burden. Fully 40% of working mothers are spending 15+ more hours weekly on household duties than they did prior to the COVID-19 crisis and are more than twice as likely as fathers to worry that their performance at work is being negatively judged because of their caregiving responsibilities. And a survey by Chief, a private club for women executives, reports that, irrespective of added responsibilities at home, 70% of women report that they have taken on more duties at work since the COVID-19 crisis began. So, on top of the anxieties around keeping themselves and their families healthy during a worldwide pandemic, women are simultaneously working more, and doing more at home.Women are critically important in workplaces for a host of reasons. Women in senior-level roles have a profound effect on workplace culture. According to the McKinsey study, women are more likely to embrace and champion employee-friendly policies and programs and to take a stand for gender and racial equity at work. Women also mentor and sponsor other women more than men. If senior-level women leave the workforce, women at all levels will lose their strongest allies. Research also shows that gender-diverse teams – and companies – are more innovative, creative and productive. Inclusive workplaces tend to have higher retention rates and better recruitment rates. To sum up, companies where women are well-represented in leadership are 50% more likely to outperform their peers.As indicated by McKinsey, companies are at a critical crossroads. The choices managers, teams and companies make now will influence the workplace for decades to come. The authors of the study say it best: “If companies recognize the scale of these problems and do all they can to address them, they can help their employees get through this difficult time and even reinvent the way they work so it’s more flexible and sustainable for everyone. If not, the consequences could badly hurt women, business and the economy as a whole. This moment requires long-term thinking, creativity, strong leadership and a laser focus on the value of women to their organizations.”What can managers, teams and companies do? Women in the Workplace 2020 features an excellent Framework for Action, which includes everything from making work more sustainable, to minimizing gender biases, to strengthening employee communications. It is an important resource for any individual, team or company that wants to strengthen their support and retention of women. And – small steps can make a big difference. McKinsey encourages companies to ask a few important questions:Consider the workflow of your team: Is it flexible in a way that supports working parents and care-givers?Are performance expectations equitable across genders?Do the women on your team feel as though they can express difficulties or take PTO if they need to in order to take care of family obligations?Finally, simply acknowledging the realities women are facing is a great first step. For instance, if there are women on your team, you could forward them this article and say, “I didn’t realize how significant this issue was. If there are ways I can further help you navigate this time, please feel free to talk with me about it.” None of us want to find out what happens to our companies if we lose 25% of our female colleagues. We have the opportunity and obligation to reverse this troubling trend, if we act deliberately and intentionally to support the women around us. I invite you to dig into the Women in the Workplace 2020 study, to discuss it with your colleagues, and to determine how all of us can make our workplaces more supportive and inclusive for everyone, for the benefit of female workers and their employers everywhere.We encourage your company to participate in McKinsey’s 2021 Women in the Workplace study and make your voice heard. To enroll, visit Women in the Workplace.For information about the SEMI Foundation’s work in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, or if your team would like to support the industry in creating a more equitable workplace, please visit us at www.semifoundation.org, or contact Michelle at [email protected] Williams is deputy director of the SEMI Foundation.

SEMI spoke with Andreas C. Zimmer, Executive Search and Selection Consultant at ZIAN Co industrial consulting and recruitment, about strategies for attracting and retaining talent and promoting careers in semiconductor industry. Zimmer shared his views ahead of his presentation at the SEMI Fab Management Forum, 17 February, as part of the SEMI Technology Unites Global Summit, 15-19 February 2021, an online event. Join us to meet experts from ZIAN Co. and other key industry influencers. Registration is open. SEMI: What makes the semiconductor industry such a great career destination? Zimmer: The semiconductor industry is an interesting world for anyone involved in or just fascinated by high-end technology. But if we think about our mobile phones, personal computers or cars, we should all ask ourselves what technology is behind these devices we use in our daily life. The classical Newtonian physics does not reveal the source of the pixels in our mobile phones or why a navigation system knows where I currently am and how I’m supposed to drive to avoid the traffic jam ahead. The semiconductor industry truly is the technological pacesetter. The technologies and applications developed by SEMI and its members are the multipliers directly impacting our daily life. Moore's law not only affects the development of chips themselves, but also how we use the applications and devices they enable. Think about the size-performance ratio of modern smartphones compared to the first- and second-generation devices in the 1970s and 1980s, or compare today's BMW with one from the 1960s. The problem is that the industry is too hermetic. We perceive a lack of willingness to go out and tell in a generally understandable way what this industry is all about! Everyone knows Apple, Samsung, Nokia, but who, besides the specialists, knows NXP, Infineon, TSMC or LFoundry? Many companies are largely unknown to the general public! So why should a graduate from a technical university choose a company such as Applied Materials, TEL or ASML? During their studies students will inevitably have come in touch with IC or MEMS companies, but do they also know what is behind them? Do they really know the value chain that leads to the end product? SEMI: What can the chip industry do to better attract talent? Zimmer: Our industry is extremely attractive for anyone who is interested in technology and would like to push things ahead, but unfortunately access to this industry is almost reserved to the initiated who, in whatever way, came in touch with the industry at some point. Let me get this straight: This is not a conscious, willful attitude. It is just the result of our industry’s hermetic attitude. In my opinion, there is no overarching, uniform strategy in marketing, communications or advertising to promote the potential of the semiconductor industry to a wider audience. That’s why SEMI and the cooperation of its members in attracting talent is essential. SEMI: What concrete actions do you suggest for attracting and retaining talent? Zimmer: In German there is the saying “Do good and talk about it!” – and this is exactly what should be implemented. It is not enough to place an ad when necessary, to promote something here and there, perhaps to sponsor a chair or to provide a device free of charge. These are certainly all reasonable actions, but rather random and not long-term or strategic. Furthermore, these actions will reach only a relatively small group of people. The industry should organize structured recruitment activities under a long-term plan, over 10 years or even extending to the next generation. This shouldn't be a rigid corset, but rather a guideline closely informed by the chip industry’s technology roadmap and companies across the supply chain. If it is the task of an organization’s board and the management to define the strategic direction and to set specific goals, it should be the task of technical management to ensure that these goals can and will be achieved. However, this will only succeed if human resources is involved from the very beginning and can plan appropriate personnel resources accordingly. Employees retire, quit and change employers. New materials, technologies, applications and processes are being developed and require new, specific knowledge. Market requirements change. All of these components need to be recognized and considered in early planning. SEMI: What is your experience as a consultant? Zimmer: As consultants, we experience how organizations literally fall out of the clouds when the situation within the organization itself drastically changes, because a strategically important colleague is retiring or suddenly leaving the team for whatever reason. Then, quite surprisingly, the question “Where and how quickly can we find the suitable replacement?” arises. Instead, that departure should be considered as a possible development up front in overall talent planning – a plan B to keep in the drawer. Developing and implementing a long-term HR development roadmap, aligned with the technology roadmap, enables a company to anticipate when specific resources are needed, identify the right people and get them onboard without gaps. It is also important to keep your team informed and involved in all decisions and process changes, and to make sure they get the respect and appreciation they deserve. Employer-employee cooperation over the long term only works when the relationship is a win-win for both parties. If an organization sees the relationship as one-sided to its exclusive benefit, sooner or later the worker will be terminated or quit at the expense of the organization. Truly live the statement “Our people are our best and most valuable resources!” SEMI: When should organizations start attracting young talent? Zimmer: The sooner, the better! Communications aimed at attracting future employees should be designed to reach people of all ages and levels of education. For many years, the tobacco industry targeted young people by demographic, considering their age, education and cultural mindset to ensure they perceived cigarettes as cool. The result? Many people became addicted, mostly for life, just because some clever communications expert touched the right spot! Our industry will not attract teenagers like tobacco corporations did, but the strategy is basically the same: arouse the curiosity of your target group and speak their language. A possible scenario: A company starts and establishes a relationship with neighboring technical, middle and high schools by providing equipment, documentation, and employees who serve as teachers or coaches, and organizing guided tours, seminars and workshops in coordination with the school management. The cooperation continues with the university, where the respective chairs are supported and financed. With a little creativity there are endless possibilities! In our day-to-day business, we observe that large, well-known companies such as Bosch and Daimler are practically sitting on the lap of students in key universities and institutes, yet are unable to identify talent very early and bind them to their company. SEMI: How can organizations capitalize on shifting retirement patterns to help narrow their talent gap? Zimmer: The answer to this arises from considerations related to personnel planning in connection with a company’s technology roadmap. If the roadmap is linked to HR plans, you automatically have an overview of the time-critical moments when personnel gaps might arise. Then you can easily close these gaps, for example by arranging the onboarding of a successor for a specific position long before the job holder leaves. Considering notice periods and approval processes, a period of at least two years should be planned in order to be prepared for personnel changes. Of course, much of this varies depending on the importance of the position to the organization and the size of the talent pool. For example, it will probably be easier and faster to hire and train a sales engineer than the successor for a development manager, when you know there are maybe only 10 people worldwide who are, professionally speaking, at his level. And this is equally true for internal promotions: Always keep an eye on your own people and try to discover their greatest talent! Senior people tend to look outside the organization rather than just around the corner. Maybe the right talent is sitting next to you. Stay tuned and talk to your people to implement a strategic knowledge transfer as part of your organizational culture. Another aspect that is often overlooked is the deputy function: We often find functions in organizations that literally have a unique selling proposition. But there is no deputy, no one who can step in case of an emergency, because no other colleague possesses the knowledge and information to take over if necessary. Usually this is not a problem during a vacation or illness, but what do you do if a key job holder suddenly cannot work from one day to the other? SEMI: What is the role played by artificial intelligence? Zimmer: AI is both a risk and an opportunity. A new technology can always mean danger if it is used incorrectly, and I am not talking about job losses! This has always proven to be a mistake in the past. On the contrary, new technologies create new jobs! New technology accelerates communication, creates new platforms for interaction, shortens decision-making processes, and turns the world into a small village. In your interview with David Meyer CEO of Lynceus, he hits the nail on the head: The great advantage of AI in our industry is likely to be the management, handling, analysis and drawing of conclusions from an incredible amount of information at an unbelievable speed. Without AI, information cannot be controlled to this extent, not to mention accurately evaluated in real time. The mastery of these processes and the learning curve that results from them – for example for the determination of quality levels – should set completely new manufacturing standards. SEMI: How can technology unite us? What do you expect from your participation at SEMI Technology Unites Global Summit? SONAR GmbH has been in this industry as a personnel and business consultant firm for 25 years now. We have experienced many pig cycles since 1995 and accompanied our customers through all the ups and downs, only to have learned one thing in the end: The semiconductor industry is unfortunately still too fixated on technology and overlooks the fact that this technology is made by people for people. The EU's latest Pact for Skills, which was presented at end of November 2020 by Commissioners Schmidt and Breton, foresees 2 billion € investment to generate 250,000 new jobs in the electronics industry throughout Europe! In 2013, we aimed to sensitize semi industry executives, managers and CEOs to the importance of human resources to the well-being and success of organizations. It’s vitally important to invest in day-to-day relationships with your employees to foster their careers and address their needs. The SEMI Fab Management Forum will feature leading game changers of semiconductor operations to highlight best practices for achieving sustainable operations beyond 2020 and exploring the latest solutions for smarter tools and smarter processes. Andreas C. Zimmer is executive search and selection consultant at ZIAN Co industrial consulting and recruitment, specializing in recruiting talent for high-end technologies in areas such as LED, PV, semiconductors, electronics, and test and measurement. A personnel and industrial consultant with more than 20 years of experience, Andreas is active throughout Europe, the United States and Asia. For more insights about workforce and skills strategies, please see SEMI Workforce Development activities and the European METIS project. Serena Brischetto is senior manager of Marketing and Communications at SEMI Europe.

The turn of the New Year means new opportunities for the microelectronic industry as SEMI continues to focus on a top priority for companies across the microelectronics design and manufacturing supply chain and SEMI members – supporting the development of the talent pipeline. Regardless of a member company’s role within microelectronics, ensuring a continued, robust flow of qualified talent for what is a cross-cutting, foundational industry sector is of high strategic importance. Skilled workers are essential to advances in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), smart manufacturing, medtech, transportation and communications. In order to satisfy the world’s insatiable appetite for technology, we need a qualified workforce that can design and manufacture cutting-edge microelectronic devices. Launched in 2019 by SEMI’s Government Programs Office, SEMI Works™ is a holistic approach to developing and maintaining the talent pipeline. 2020 focused on building the all-important infrastructure, engaging member companies to identify required skills and developing a Unified Competency Model to catalog these workforce requirements. SEMI Works™ accomplished several firsts for the microelectronics industry: First dynamic, data informed workforce training standard adopted and published by the U.S. Department of Labor Employment Training Administration (USDOL-ETA) First SEMI Certified college program for technicians First Industry Approved Apprenticeship Program for Technicians, adopted and endorsed by the U.S. Department of Labor Member inputs anchor the SEMI Works™ portal, which enables connections among talent, employers and training/education providers. The portal’s initial phase of development is on track for completion in the first quarter of this year, marking the point when it will begin to be populated with specific job information, individual (talent) profiles and applicable training courses. Once SEMI Works™ is fully operational, it will be optimized to further support talent development and acquisition, providing a comprehensive platform for learning management, e-learning and career advancement. Throughout 2021 SEMI will be engaging members, training providers and job seekers to ensure the portal’s capabilities and user interface meets their needs. We’ll also move forward with several other SEMI Work’s programs including the Curated Content Initiative, which will enable SEMI members to identify non-proprietary courses, a SEMI member job board and an interactive career map to help job seekers plan their future in the industry. The microelectronics industry will only fulfill its tremendous promise for innovation and growth with the right talent. SEMI looks forward to working with members in 2021 to expand SEMI Works™ and help lay the groundwork for the next wave of technology advances. Mike Russo is vice president of Industry Advancement and Government Programs at SEMI.