Welcome to the inaugural edition of the SEMI Foundation’s
Workforce Development Newsletter! In this bi-monthly newsletter,
you will be treated to program spotlights, news from the field,
important resources, and calls to action to help
support and advance your workforce.
This month you will read about SEMI’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) resources, our VetWorks program, new videos that support our Industry Image and Awareness Campaign, recommendations around the “Great Resignation” happening in industries across the U.S., recent articles with workforce development and DEI themes, and invitations to a number of upcoming workforce development-focused events.
Register for our next webinar: VetWorks: Veterans in Hiring on November 16th at 10:30 AM PT where we’ll roll out our newest resources to help members to help attract, hire, and retain people from the military. And in case you missed it, we also invite you to check out the recording of our most recent webinar, SEMI Foundation: Workforce Development and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for updates on our current work, information on the resources we are providing our members, and opportunities for you to engage.
We hope you find this newsletter interesting and informative, and we welcome your feedback and suggestions! Please contact us at [email protected] with comments.
Shari Liss, Executive Director
Expanding and Retaining our Workforce through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The SEMI Foundation team spent the first half of 2021 conducting extensive research around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the microelectronics industry, in tech, and in other
industries, gathering best and next practices, current thinking, and thoughtful recommendations. In our research, we confirmed that DEI is not just a social justice issue; it is a business imperative. More diverse companies with strong cultures of inclusion are more productive, innovative, and profitable, with
higher job satisfaction and retention rates.
The results of that research are new resources for our industry: SEMI Roadmap to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and SEMI DEI Toolkit. These documents are downloadable from our website and free for any company to adopt as their own. Elements include:
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Recommendations on launching new or supporting current DEI practices at your company
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Assessment tools to track your DEI journey
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Event Guidelines to support greater diversity in speakers and audience at industry events
SEMI Foundation’s Workforce Development team presented a webinar about the Roadmap and Toolkit on August 26th. You can view the webinar here: https://bit.ly/38j1KOl
The SEMI Foundation team also publishes frequent articles about DEI issues and how they relate to workforce development. Our Deputy Director, Michelle Williams-Vaden, recently wrote about how the history of women in computing continues to affect their careers today in the article “From Darlings of Programming to Underrepresented Tech Workers, Women Are Still Undervalued” for the SEMI Global Update newsletter.
SEMI VetWorks
The SEMI Foundation has just launched another new resource for our industry: A Guide to Veteran Recruitment, Hiring and Retention in the Microelectronics Industry. This robust document includes information on recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and retaining veterans and people who are transitioning out of the military as well as how to create more veteran-friendly workplaces where veterans can feel as though they belong. Sign up for our SEMI VetWorks Webinar on November 16th at 10 AM PT/1 PM ET to learn about this new guide and other veteran resources.
SEMI has also entered into a partnership with the Manufacturing Institute’s Heroes Make America (HMA) program, which helps former military service members find jobs. On August 25th, HMA hosted a webinar on semiconductor industry jobs, the first of hopefully many successful programs to connect our industry to this highly-skilled potential workforce. View the webinar here: https://www.semi.org/en/workforce-development/semi-foundation/veterans
Industry Image and Awareness Campaign
SEMI's Industry Image and Awareness Campaign has two elements: a PBS documentary with Roadtrip Nation highlighting
individuals and their careers in our industry that will reach up to 60 million people, which will air in 2022; and an online career portal, which launches in early 2022.
The portal will provide:
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skills and interest assessment tools
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links to trainings that map to jobs
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“crosswalks” that show how to move from different industries and the military into microelectronics
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connections to mentors and sponsors
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demonstrations of the social good within the industry (shown to be important to today’s job seekers)
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showcase the stories of diverse individuals working in microelectronics (so people of different backgrounds can see themselves represented in the industry).
We’ve wrapped up Phase one of this campaign (including wire frames for the portal, seen here) and will soon launch Phase 2.
In the meantime, we are building videos for teachers and job seekers to learn more about our industry and the people who work in it. This collection of videos is called “Future U” and can be found on the SEMI website at https://www.semi.org/en/workforce-development/FutureU
SEMI Foundation Excellence in Achievement Award
Formerly known as “Spotlight on SEMI Women”, this award has been reworked to include any industry professional who has made significant contributions to the global microelectronics industry and to society in the areas of workforce development and diversity, equity and inclusion. Nominations are open, and the award will be presented on the keynote stage at SEMICON West. We invite you to nominate someone doing wonderful work today! For more information visit https://www.semi.org/en/workforce-development/semi-foundation/excellence-award
Upcoming Events
SEMI Foundation: VetWorks Webinar on November 16th at 10 AM PT/1 PM ET
SEMICON West: The Workforce Development pavilion will feature three days of programming focused on workforce development and diversity, equity, and inclusion on December 7-9. Register here for both virtual and hybrid access.
News from the Field
The microelectronics industry remains highly visible in the news, with coverage of workforce and raw material shortage, and the federal government’s interest in the national and economic security implications of a leading-edge industry stretching its workforce. There is no shortage of relevant articles about our industry.
The most compelling one for us at the moment, though, speaks to industries across the U.S.: Please Stay: How Companies Answer the Great Recession, by Michael Stahl, published by From Day One.
“This heightened level of care and concern about workers is emerging in the midst of the “Great Resignation,” the recent mass exodus of workers from their jobs, in which 11.5 million U.S. employees quit in just the three months of April, May, and June,” writes Stahl. “It left the country with a record-high number of job openings in July and a huge question looming over Corporate America: What are employers going to do about it?”
Stahl explores how we should progress toward a post-pandemic world in the workplace, and names a number of recommendations – pay at least the market rate, increase flexibility, adapt to different generations, and more – to help companies attract and retain workers.
Other current articles of note include:
Shopify’s new remote-learning program offers free degrees and paid work
The e-commerce giant’s Dev Degree includes a free computer-science degree and paid work at the company. Now it’s inviting remote students to participate.
Help your employees find purpose—or watch them leave
People who live their purpose at work are more productive, healthier, more resilient, and more likely to remain with the company. Companies should reflect on the impact they have on the world (no hypocrisy allowed), encourage employees to reflect on their purpose, and create opportunities for employees to engage in purpose-serving work.
Employees Are Quitting Instead of Giving Up Working From Home
The drive to get people back into offices is clashing with workers who’ve embraced remote work as the new normal.
From retrofit to redesign: a how-to guide on DEI for leaders
The importance of building a representative workforce and creating the systems, processes, and practices necessary for workplace equity.
A sense of belonging is what drives well-being—and it’s disappearing
Our social connectedness drives our happiness; after more than a year of social isolation, there’s a clear opportunity for brands that can build belonging.
6 pandemic work habits we shouldn’t lose in our ‘new normal’
Some of the ways we coped during the pandemic actually make the workplace better. Experts share which habits we should keep.