Intel’s call to action on skills to fuel European chips investments [Promoted content]

Europe needs to decarbonise, digitise, and reindustrialise. The progress to achieve these goals is powered by small yet incredibly sophisticated devices: semiconductors. One of the keys to unlocking the power of semiconductors is a robust talent pipeline that brings the skills needed all along the value chain. In this context, Intel’s call on EU policymakers is clear: skills must be a priority. 

Hendrik Bourgeois, Vice President, Government Affairs Europe at Intel.

In the semiconductor industry we call our factories fabs, and no fab can run without its workers – the engineers as much as the highly skilled manufacturing technicians. But they are increasingly hard to come by. Particularly in Europe, which is facing an acute shortage of skills. 

The European Commission last week sent a strong signal that it is not only aware of the problem but is also prepared to act on it. The Action Plan on labour skills and shortages presented illustrates that. Now that the Commission has a plan, we must take action. We urge businesses, governments, civil society, and academics to work together towards our common goal: developing a workforce capable of safeguarding the future of European competitiveness, digital innovation, and the transition to a net-zero society. 

Investments in the semiconductor industry have proven to benefit the entire ecosystem of suppliers, startups, SMEs, researchers, and end-users. Our experience shows that for each position at Intel, six additional jobs are created across the ecosystem. To maximize this potential, we need help from governments. Most imminently, we will need help staffing our new facilities. Meeting the growing demand for chips requires 100,000 new jobs annually for the global semiconductor industry. In the EU, investments announced under the EU Chips Act since 2022 will need between 10,000 and 15,000 new workers. Our planned investments in Germany and Poland alone are expected to create around 5,000 new direct jobs and thousands of indirect ones. Finding this talent in Europe is difficult with continent-wide aging populations, rigid labour markets, and STEM skills shortages precipitated by decades of manufacturing offshoring.  

Realizing our joint ambitions, therefore, hinges on our collective ability to reverse these trends. Funding skills development and training, improving intra-EU mobility, and attracting global talent are rightly among the main objectives of the Commission’s Action Plan. All of these are included among the recommendations in our recently published whitepaper ‘Policy Actions for a Competitive and Resilient Europe’. The Commission Action Plan also sets out deliverables like ‘evaluating impacts,’ ‘improving intelligence’, and ‘analysing policies.’ But we should not settle for the low-hanging fruit. We must keep our eyes on the big prize: funding, up- and re-skilling, and talent attraction and retention.

Bolstering Europe’s position as a leader in chips manufacturing means matching ambition with action and targeted funding. An ‘EU Semiconductor Talent Academy’ with a dedicated funding scheme would be a strategic investment. Such an academy can empower areas with significant inward investment, to develop and upskill their existing training capacities. At Intel, we work with and invest in local education systems to develop the talent we need. To name a couple of examples, in Ireland, we have partnered with Maynooth University to create a new robotics lab and launched initiatives like the Advanced Manufacturing Technician Maintenance Skills program. In Germany, where we plan to build two new leading-edge fabs, we have allocated €1.2 million to partner with six local universities.

A coordinated approach to upskilling and reskilling among Member States is also essential. Binding national and European targets in STEM and advanced applied technical education would create a robust talent pipeline for Europe. This is not just about meeting immediate needs. Like the construction of a semiconductor facility, cultivating a highly skilled talent pipeline takes time, investment, and public-private partnership. 

Lastly, Europe must not sleepwalk into the global race for talent. Particularly when it comes to research around advanced technologies like semiconductors, the competition for skilled workers is fierce. Thus far, the EU has been doing relatively well. But it must not become complacent. We should protect our international appeal by ensuring that third-country workers can seamlessly move from one Member State to another by modernizing and fast-tracking visa processes and creating national and regional one-stop shops to assist highly skilled workers in relocating. On the domestic front, we should continue removing obstacles to intra-EU travel by harmonizing labour market policies and qualification requirements as much as possible. Attracting and retaining both domestic and international workers is critical to the objectives of Europe’s twin transition.  

The message is straightforward: the EU’s competitiveness hinges on a skilled and productive labour force. The Commission’s Action Plan acknowledges this. As Commissioner Schinas put it, “Labour and skills shortages are becoming endemic and addressing them now is a must-do to preserve our resilience.”  He is 100% spot on. The ambition is set, the need is critical, and now is the time for concerted action. Intel is and will remain a driving force behind these initiatives and we call on our partners to join us in this common endeavour.