IEEE Circuits and Systems Magazine - Q3 2022 - 45

Well before the chip shortage, there was and still there is another
shortage worldwide, that of electronic engineers.
The European Union has set itself, in September
2020, the goal of increasing in the short term its ability
to design and manufacture nanometer chips, in its
declaration signed by 22 EU countries: " A European
Initiative on Processors and semiconductor technologies "
[24], a key aspect of its open strategic autonomy
[25], [26]. Having a production and design base of electronic
components becomes not only necessary for
the competitiveness of European companies, but also
strategic for the security and resilience of the Union.
Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner for Internal Market,
said: " Europe has all it takes to diversify and reduce
critical dependencies, while remaining open. We will
therefore need to set ambitious plans, from design of
chips to advanced manufacturing progressing towards
2-nm nodes, with the aim of differentiating and leading
on our most important value chains. " In March 2021,
the EU announced its plan to increase its share of the
global semiconductor market to 20% by 2030. With this
in mind, the European Commission pledged $160 billion
of its Covid-19 recovery fund to tech projects on the
continent. In September 2021, German company Infineon
Technologies opened its new €1.6 billion chip
factory for power electronics on 300-millimeter thin
wafers at its Villach site in Austria [27]. Also FrenchItalian
STMicroelectronics, industry leader in the field
of MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems) and SiC
devices, inaugurated in November 2020 a new 200-mm
fab dedicated to MEMS and a $2 billion 300-mm fab in
June 2021, both in Agrate, near Milan, Italy [28]. Besides,
the company will build a new €2 billion module
with new personnel in its Catania plant, focusing on
SiC technology [29], and decided and expansion in the
Crolles (France) plant.
4. Another Long-Termed Shortage:
That of Electronic Engineers
Well before the chip shortage, there was and still there
is another shortage worldwide, that of electronic engineers
[30]-[33]. This lack affects companies' ability to
fill key positions and replenish an aging workforce. Over
a longer period of time, it can hinder the pace of growth
of the entire sector.
The reasons for this shortage are several. The manufacturing
industry is facing a wave of retirement unlike
any other due to aging of the workforce [34]. Electronic
engineers move into other engineering professions
and even non-engineering ones that can offer either
THIRD QUARTER 2022
better salaries or more independence or better social
status. Only a limited fraction of teenage girls is interested,
despite the fact that the sector offers good
careers with good gender equality. Women represent
only 10-25% of the semiconductor workforce across all
roles and functions [35].
However, the principal cause is the general decreased
interest of the younger generations in a discipline,
perhaps erroneously considered mature, which
instead continues to evolve and provides answers to
new challenges. One reason for this decline in interest
is probably due to the markets and economic strategies
of Western countries which in the recent past have focused
on the advanced tertiary sector. From the new
economy of the end of the previous century we moved
to the web economy in which service companies such
as Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Netflix rise in the
collective imagination to models of successful brands
and profit. Another reason is that software developments,
especially app developments, requires simplicity
of means, give the creator a quick sense of intellectual
achievement and are economically rewarding at the
same time. Intellectually satisfying jobs in integrated
circuit design are instead rather limited to specialized
circuit design or complex device engineering and such
opportunities are like craftsmanship, requiring several
years of previous industry experience or higher education
before one is even allowed to begin work in such
areas. But perhaps a subtler reason is that it is definitely
not clear to public opinion -but also to the decision makers,
opinion leaders and the mass media- what the electronic
engineer does and what is his primary role in the
digital revolution. This problem is even more serious
than it apparently seems. To just cite one example, the
word semiconductor never occurs in the Future of Job
Reports 2020 of the World Economic Forum [36], while
the word electronics is associated only to Electronics
and Telecoms Installers and Repairers, jobs that are of
course less and less in demand.
It is necessary to make it clear that electronics is not
a static, inexhaustible and ready to use commodity. On
the contrary, it is in continuous development in order to
support the acceleration undertaken by the knowledge
society and this development is enabled by electronics.
The automotive sector is only the last in which the introduction
of electronics adds value, efficiency, intelligence
and functionality, revolutionizing the market. In the recent
past this was the case for many other mechanical
IEEE CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS MAGAZINE
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IEEE Circuits and Systems Magazine - Q3 2022

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