Arizona’s semiconductor industry is expanding rapidly, so chipmakers, government agencies and even nonprofit groups are hustling to build training programs to meet the industry’s need for skilled workers.
White House officials were visiting Phoenix Jan. 25 to promote several new and ongoing efforts with workforce development in mind. These include a new $5 million private-sector commitment for an apprenticeship program, a $5 million nonprofit pledge for worker-support services and new partnerships involving community colleges, unions and other groups.
Several Biden Administration officials were in the Valley to promote the Phoenix “workforce hub,” a program that seeks to secure private-sector and local government funding to expand apprenticeship programs, develop technical education programs, and so on.
Phoenix is one of five such hubs nationally. The others are in Baltimore and Pittsburgh, along with Columbus, Ohio, and Augusta, Georgia.
At an event Thursday commemorating the investment into workforce training, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said the early focus of the workforce hub has been on semiconductors, but the hub will also focus on other emerging areas like biotechnology.
According to the Biden Administration, Arizona has received more than $77 billion in private investment in the semiconductor, battery, electric vehicle, clean energy and biomanufacturing industries.
These include the new Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. complex being completed in north Phoenix, a major Intel expansion in Chandler, and the expansion of Lucid Motors’ automaking factories in Casa Grande.
“Phoenix has emerged as a center for growing industries,” Brendan Danaher, deputy assistant to the President and director for Labor at the National Economic Council, said, adding that the investment in training for entry-level skilled workers shows how Biden’s investment in the economy is growing “from the middle out.”
TSMC to invest $5 million in apprentices
Of the new programs involving the chipmaking industry, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing is investing $5 million to establish an apprenticeship program. The company intends to train 80 facility technician apprentices over five years, with support from Phoenix and the Arizona State Apprenticeship Office.
City and White House officials said the program is among the first of its kind, offering on-the-job training for highly advanced manufacturing systems.
A TSMC spokesperson said the first group of apprentices are people who have worked for contactors for TSMC who were identified as people who would be interested and could benefit from the apprenticeship program. Future participants in the program will likely come from career and technical education programs within the high schools or programs in the community college system.
The first phase only will train facilities technicians, but the company has plans to expand the apprenticeships to other types of technicians.
Participation in the apprenticeship program will be funded partially by TSMC and by Phoenix, Gallego said.
At the event, TSMC Arizona President Brian Harrison said TSMC already has 2,200 direct employees in Arizona, and about 12,000 construction workers are working on the north Phoenix site daily.
“We knew that attracting technicians would be one of the bigger challenges,” Harrison said.
Technicians are in-demand across companies in Arizona and have many choices when it comes to where they work, he said. TSMC is especially challenging, because the work is very specialized and people often do not have the training on the specific tools they will use in the job.
In addition, the Arizona Community Foundation will drive the creation of a $5 million philanthropic fund designed to assist 1,500 residents, including those from underserved groups, with the training needed to enter in-demand jobs.
Meanwhile, the South Mountain campus of the Maricopa Community College System has pledged to work with the Arizona Building Trades Council to expand apprenticeship enrollment in construction trades such as carpentry, plumbing and electrical. This program will also seek to recruit members from underserved groups, including Latino and Native American students.
Also, the Phoenix Union School District and the Western Maricopa Education Center are establishing a program where high school students can earn certifications to help them land jobs in advanced manufacturing.
Tuition will be covered by the state, and Phoenix is investing $10 million in American Rescue Plan funds in additional training at Maricopa Community Colleges. This money will pay monthly stipends of $1,000 to eligible students to assist with transportation and other personal expenses, plus another $500 per month for parents with young children to cover childcare expenses.
Other programs involve ASU, UofA
Among other programs, the Arizona Commerce Authority is investing more than $80 million in American Rescue Plan money to expand university partnerships.
This includes $30 million for a materials-to-fab center at Arizona State University that will spur research and development. It also involves $17.5 million in R&D and workforce training involving gallium nitride manufacturing and more at ASU. The remaining $35.5 million will support a University of Arizona program driving R&D involving semiconductors, computer chips, optical devices and quantum computing.
Last November, Gov. Katie Hobbs and the Arizona Commerce Authority announced $4 million in American Rescue Plan funding to support services such as child care, transportation, tuition and supplies for apprentices in semiconductor fields. Also, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, with support from Hobbs, established new partnerships to build talent pipelines with the Maricopa Community Colleges and ASU.
