back to article Intel facing worker shortage for German chip plant

Intel is facing a shortage of skilled staff for its planned chip factory in Germany, according to reports, highlighting that rebuilding the semiconductor industry in Europe and elsewhere may not be straightforward. The Santa Clara chipmaker signed an agreement with the German government back in June that will see it pick up € …

  1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

    Capitalism

    Fortunately the free market means they simply have to raise wages until supply balances demand

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The world supply of anyone STEM educated is to say the least, challenged. Unless you're in China, which has invested massively in education to beef up numbers only for them not to have a job worth doing to go to. Lot of people looking to move (or would be persuaded by the right offer)

    Does rather make a mockery of the security issues you were trying to avoid by bringing manufacture here of course...

  3. elsergiovolador Silver badge

    Shortage

    Why would you join a job that is dead end from the start?

    If couple of years down the line Intel does something bad, you can't exactly switch jobs to a different semiconductor company, simply because they don't exist.

    Now if they are struggling to take apprentices (read - they don't want to pay people), then to me it shows:

    a) the pay is low

    b) the pay is low

    c) it's not attractive

    d) the pay is low

    e) it's not attractive

    The strategy is then probably to moan a bit more and hope government will give some more tax payer money, to subsidise those workers or to ease immigration rules, so they can get cheap workers from overseas.

    I don't know who these corporations are kidding. If their offer is carp, then you can at most call it there is a shortage of fools.

    1. martinusher Silver badge

      Re: Shortage

      I really don't know where an apprenticeship would fit in this industry. Apprenticeships have usually been to learn a trade, a skilled craft where there's a lot to learn but most of it is by doing, learning from a skilled craftsman (person, these days, of course). They were typically for five years, starting at 16 and going on till the person became a journeyman at 21. The implication was that they'd take a bunch of people, put them through a three to six month course and then let them loose in a clean room, something that's just not realistic. The jobs are more like nursing where entry level doesn't require a whole lot of knowledge or skill but the training goes on for years before someone is at a stage where they can be left to work without close supervision.

      Its like these hopefuls have to forget being a major player overnight. Corporations will obviously lap up any subsidies they can so they're not going to tell you that its likely to be a bust. Start with the education pipeline and, while you're about it, try to re-status skilled labor, the pressure to treat workers as interchangable widgets has been extreme and we're all the poorer for it.

  4. DS999 Silver badge

    High energy prices

    Well given that Germany shut down all their nuclear reactors in a panic after Fukushima, deciding they would instead trust a Russian dictator, they have a pretty poor record on energy planning in the recent past.

    This should hardly have come as a surprise to Intel who presumably did some sort of due diligence, or did they not have time for that in the rush to sign up for the subsidies from the German government?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: High energy prices

      There's nothing recent about German reliance on Russian fuel. Even at the height of the cold war West Germany was a major importer. Trade was a major lever is trying to open up lines of communication.

      The door's slammed shut sadly and the rest of the story is what it is :-|

      1. DS999 Silver badge

        Re: High energy prices

        Perhaps, but they had to increase that reliance a lot when they shut down those nuclear reactors. Even Trump was able to see that wasn't a good idea, and he LOVES Putin!

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    You get what you pay for

    Germany beat out Ireland and others with the support package they offered Intel. I'm sure it's very favourable. But due diligence should have shown how morbidly bureaucratic and inflexible German manufacturing is. Any changes require works council approval, and often changes in Germany trail years behind rest of Europe or global. It's painful.

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like