Talent

The technicians, engineers, and operators who keep tools in spec — and the shortage that now sets the pace.

September 2026

In depth · Talent

Chip plants are going up faster than the technicians to run them

America can pour concrete for chip plants. It cannot yet pour people into them. The shortage is about to set the pace of the industrial build-out.

The Industrial Brief · 18 Sept 2026 · 9 min

News · Talent

Chip plants will need 157,000 more people than America can currently train

A SEMI Foundation analysis puts a hard number on the quiet crisis inside every new U.S. fab — and explains why commissioning crews are still arriving from overseas.

The Industrial Brief · 18 Sept 2026 · 4 min

News · Talent

UK factories hired at a two-year high as output slowed

Output growth slowed in August. Headcount did not. UK plant directors are staffing for a recovery that the order book has not yet confirmed.

The Industrial Brief · 1 Sept 2026 · 4 min