The US semiconductor industry employs roughly 368,400 people as of March 2026, down from a peak of 401,000 in 2023, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. The same SIA analysis projects the industry needs to add 115,000 net new jobs by 2030, with about 67,000 of those positions at serious risk of going unfilled because the country does not have the trained workforce.
That is the 30-second version of where semiconductor jobs stand in 2026. The longer version involves the CHIPS and Science Act, billions in fab construction across 21 states, and one big Intel project in Ohio that has not gone the way anyone expected.
The CHIPS Act in One Paragraph
The CHIPS and Science Act, signed August 2022, put $52.7 billion of federal funding behind US semiconductor manufacturing, with $39 billion of that earmarked for fab construction subsidies. The bet is that the US needs to manufacture significantly more of its own chips (the country produces roughly 12 percent of global supply today, down from 37 percent in 1990) to be economically and strategically secure. The CHIPS Act is what unlocked the construction wave: TSMC in Arizona, Samsung in Texas, Micron in New York, GlobalFoundries in New York, SK hynix in Indiana, and Intel projects in Arizona, Ohio, and New Mexico, plus dozens of supplier and packaging facilities.
The Major US Fab Projects
TSMC Arizona (Phoenix)
The largest single foreign investment in US history when it was announced. TSMC has now committed roughly $65 billion to three Phoenix-area fabs. The first (Fab 21) entered production in 2025 making 4nm chips for Apple, AMD, and others. The second is on track for 2028 (3nm). The third was announced for late this decade (2nm). When all three are running, TSMC Arizona will employ roughly 6,000 high-wage workers plus 20,000 construction jobs across the build-out.
Samsung Texas (Taylor)
Samsung committed roughly $40 billion to a megasite in Taylor, Texas. First fab targets 2026 operational status, with rumors of further slippage. When fully built out, the project will create roughly 2,000 direct manufacturing jobs and an estimated 7,000 ancillary positions.
Micron New York (Clay)
Up to $100 billion across four fabs over the next 20 years; if it builds out, the largest US semiconductor manufacturing project in history. Micron projects roughly 9,000 direct jobs and 40,000 ecosystem jobs at full ramp. First-fab construction broke ground in 2025; production targets 2028.
Intel Ohio (New Albany)
The headline project from 2022 has not gone according to plan. Intel originally promised production by 2025; that has now slipped to 2030 or 2031 for the first fab and 2031 or later for the second. The delay is a combination of weak chip demand, cost overruns, and a leadership change: Pat Gelsinger was forced out in December 2024 and replaced by Lip-Bu Tan in March 2025. Intel cut roughly 15 percent of its global workforce in 2025 and canceled fab projects in Germany and Poland. The Ohio site is still being built but at a much slower pace, and the original promise of 3,000 Intel jobs by 2025 has not materialized.
GlobalFoundries New York (Malta)
$11.6 billion expansion of the existing Malta fab, plus a new fab adjacent. CHIPS Act funding of $1.5 billion. Adds roughly 1,500 manufacturing jobs and 9,000 construction jobs.
SK hynix Indiana (West Lafayette)
$3.87 billion advanced packaging facility for high-bandwidth memory (HBM, the chips that AI accelerators need). First HBM packaging facility in the US. Roughly 1,000 manufacturing jobs.
Smaller and Supplier Projects
CHIPS Act subsidies have also flowed to projects from Microchip, Wolfspeed, Texas Instruments, BAE Systems, Applied Materials, Lam Research, Air Products, and dozens of smaller suppliers in 21 states. Even with the Intel Ohio slowdown, the cumulative US fab investment under CHIPS exceeds $500 billion in announced spend.
What Jobs Are They Creating?
Semiconductor manufacturing is more than process engineers in cleanrooms. Each fab project breaks down roughly like this:
- Construction (years 1-3): general contractors, electricians, pipefitters, sheet metal workers, plumbers, ironworkers, low-voltage cabling, instrumentation, mechanical insulation. A single fab generates roughly 7,000 to 20,000 construction jobs at peak.
- Equipment install and tool-up: highly specialized vendor technicians (Applied Materials, Lam Research, ASML, KLA, Tokyo Electron) installing and commissioning multimillion-dollar tools.
- Operations (year 3+): process engineers, equipment technicians, fab operators, facility engineers, materials handlers, cleanroom maintenance, safety and environmental staff.
- Supplier and ecosystem: for every direct fab job, industry analysts estimate three to five jobs in the surrounding supplier ecosystem (chemicals, gases, packaging, logistics).
The Skills Shortage
The shortage is not generic. The roles in shortest supply require specific training and 18-36 months of on-the-job experience:
- Process engineers (chemical engineering, materials science, or electrical engineering background).
- Equipment technicians (associate degree in electronics or related, plus vendor-specific training on tools).
- Skilled fab operators (high school or some college, plus 6-12 months of in-house training before they are productive).
- Facility engineers for cleanroom HVAC, ultra-pure water, and process gas systems. This is where HVAC and plumbing trades become directly relevant.
- Construction trades for the build-out years. Electricians and pipefitters with industrial experience are in high demand in every fab market.
TSMC has publicly cited the shortage as a reason for its Arizona delays: the company could not find enough US workers with the experience to install and commission the equipment, and ended up flying in Taiwanese specialists.
Salaries and Pay
Semiconductor manufacturing pays well, especially compared to other manufacturing sectors:
- Fab operator (entry-level): $40,000 to $60,000.
- Equipment technician (1-3 years): $60,000 to $90,000.
- Process engineer (entry-level): $80,000 to $110,000.
- Senior process engineer: $130,000 to $180,000.
- Facility engineer: $90,000 to $140,000.
- Construction trades on a fab build: often 1.5x the local trade rate due to specialized work and overtime, with electricians and pipefitters frequently clearing $100,000 in active build years.
Intel cited an average direct-job salary of $135,000 for the Ohio site in 2022; that figure was for engineering and operations roles, not entry-level fab operators.
How to Get Into the Field
If You Are in the Trades
Construction trades are the most direct path. Electricians, pipefitters, sheet metal workers, plumbers, and HVAC techs with industrial commercial experience can apply directly to general contractors building fabs (Gilbane, Turner, Whiting-Turner, JE Dunn, M+W Group). The work is high-paying, time-bounded, and usually requires relocation or significant travel.
If You Are in School
Two-year programs at community colleges in fab markets are the fast track. Columbus State Community College, Maricopa Community Colleges (Arizona), Austin Community College (Texas), Onondaga Community College (New York), and Ivy Tech (Indiana) all run semiconductor-focused programs in partnership with the major fab employers. Federal CHIPS Act funding has expanded these programs significantly.
If You Have a Four-Year Degree
Chemical engineering, materials science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and physics undergraduates are the standard pipelines into process engineering. New-grad starting salaries at Intel, TSMC, Samsung, Micron, and GlobalFoundries typically range from $80,000 to $110,000 plus signing bonuses.
The Intel Ohio Reality Check
Three years after groundbreaking, the Intel Ohio site is still under construction with no production. The original 2025 production date is now 2030 or later. The 3,000 direct jobs Intel projected for 2025 have not been hired, and the 7,000 construction workers ramped down significantly when Intel slowed the build pace in 2024.
That does not mean the project is dead. Trump administration officials, Senator Bernie Moreno, and Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted have all publicly pushed for the project to continue. Intel has not pulled out and the existing CHIPS Act subsidy is still in place. But anyone counting on Ohio fab employment in the next two to three years should keep expectations realistic. The opportunity is now at the other major fab sites (Arizona, Texas, New York, Indiana), which are further along.
The Bottom Line
The US semiconductor industry needs about 115,000 more workers by 2030 and has the demand to absorb every qualified person who shows up. The Intel Ohio project that drove a lot of the initial 2022 conversation has slipped years; the real opportunity is now distributed across TSMC Arizona, Samsung Texas, Micron New York, and the supplier ecosystem. Construction trades, equipment technicians, and process engineers are the three categories where hiring is most aggressive.
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