As one of the leading states investing in chip infrastructure since 2020, Arizona has made it clear that they are serious about semiconductor. With thousands of new jobs added, from manufacturing technicians to electrical engineers, there are currently more opportunities than the existing talent pipeline can fill. Fortunately, WGNSTAR has been hard at work finding creative solutions – including partnering with various academic institutions and veterans programs – to support semiconductor workforce development.
With this increase in growth and need for expanded support within the region, WGNSTAR is excited to announce our Arizona office has moved. Still based in Chandler, our new location has improved conferencing facilities for global communication and increased interviewing facilities to better support the growing semiconductor industry. With our acquisition at the start of the year, the new space also allows us to consolidate our existing office spaces into a new single office, optimizing our operations and allowing our teams to work more closely together.
Though the majority of our teams’ expansion is based in the field, we have a growing support team who are diligently working to narrow the ever-present talent gap and introduce much needed technical personnel into the workforce. According to a Deloitte report, the industry as a whole will require more than 100,000 new skilled workers per year until 2030, but science, technology, engineering and math enrollment in universities across the U.S. struggle to keep up.
One of WGNSTAR’s initiatives is to focus on engagement with community colleges, local universities, and trade schools to promote industry awareness and provide information on available pathways, especially for those not seeking a four-year degree. By providing insight into various alternative career paths and assisting with curriculum development for technical programs, we hope to provide early opportunities for students interested in the semiconductor industry and assist them with building technician skills for entry-level positions.
In addition to academic efforts, our Arizona team also engages with transitioning service members and the military community as part of our company-wide veterans support initiatives. Nearly 15% of our Arizona-based employees served in the armed forces, and more than 14% of all new hires nationally in 2022 were veterans. We were also honored with the Gold HireVets Medallion Award by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2022 for our commitment to veteran hiring.
“As our team continues to grow both in size and support of local workforce development efforts, we are pleased that our new office is optimized to support Arizona’s level of growth now as well into the future,” comments Nigel Wenden, WGNSTAR’s CEO. “As an organization, we are proud to be a part of the effort to improve technical capacity in the workforce while also providing alternative career paths for people to be part of a unique and impactful industry.”