Calling all foreign workers! The German chip sector’s run into a labour problem

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Europe comes from Saxony. The state has pulled in billions in investment, and fabrication plants, or “fabs,” for companies such as Infineon, Bosch and Globalfoundries are all based in Saxony, which is rumored to be the site of a future TSMC plant. Yet a skilled labor shortage is weighing on the sector. Over 76,000 people in Saxony are employed in the local chip industry, thanks in part to nearby clusters of research institutes, semiconductor-related companies and technical universities. By 2030, lobbyists project, this number will grow to 100,000. That, however, isn’t enough – not for Germany, nor for Europe as a whole. By that year, the European Union wants to manufacture 20% of the world’s semiconductors, up from 10%. Dresden’s efforts to train talent and attract skilled workers may offer clues as to how that could happen.

Germany is running out of workers, putting growth in jeopardy

Sampada Godkhindi is a graduate of Dresden’s Technical University, which launched a masters program in nanoelectronic systems in 2011, attacting many overseas students and creating a pipeline of talent that flows directly to industry. Originally from Karnataka, India, Godkhindi began looking into English-language masters programs in Germany after working for a German automotive parts company, and TU Dresden topped a lot of her searches. Upon receiving her degree, she wanted to stay in the area, and got a job as an integration engineer at GlobalFoundries, where she patterns electronic components onto semiconductors. Universities like TU Dresden and nearby research institutes such as the Helmholtz Center and Fraunhofer Institute have made it possible for producers to “secure both experienced chip experts and young