As semiconductor complexity increases with scaling, specialized expertise in areas like plasma physics and artificial intelligence (AI) becomes crucial. Lam faces challenges in workforce readiness, with graduates often unaware of the semiconductor market and industries vying for similar talent.
- That's why we’re innovating ways to attract, develop, and retain skilled professionals.
Why it matters: By 2030, the semiconductor industry aims for a $1 trillion annual revenue, necessitating an additional one million global semiconductor workers.
Democratizing Education
Lam collaborates with global universities and organizations to cultivate a diverse, skilled STEM workforce for various technical disciplines.
- Universities struggle to train semiconductor engineers due to limited access to cutting-edge equipment and the hazards of working with volatile chemistry.
Lam's answer is Semiverse™ Solutions, a virtual lab simulation that democratizes engineering skills training, enhances safety, promotes sustainability, and expands access to lab environments to global talent. Virtual environments are already in use with Lam's customers and U.S. academic partners.
- Notably, Lam India and the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering developed a custom course on semiconductor fabrication technology using SEMulator3D®.
By the numbers: In 2020 Lam invested $1.3 million in education programs at both nonprofits and schools.
- For instance, Lam offers 18-month internships through Portland Community College and Clackamas Community College for Oregon microelectronics students.
- In Ohio, Silfex, a Lam subsidiary, collaborates with Clark State Community College on a 40-hour advanced manufacturing training program, with many of the program’s graduates joining Lam's workforce.
Taking Leaps
Lam promotes life-long learning through professional development programs like Leap, which validates technical skills across 14 disciplines, enterprise-wide mentoring, and new manager coaching. Since its launch in 2017, Leap has certified around 3,800 employees at Lam, enhancing their career development, technical capability, and productivity.
Additionally, Lam's technology to connect mentors to mentees and online coaching platforms like BetterUp® have significantly benefited 1,600+ Lam employees, with a 99% life-changing session rating. (BetterUp combines coaching, science, and artificial intelligence to help employees grow and transform their work and well-being.) Further, Lam enables self-directed, on-demand global access to a variety of high-quality courses, podcasts, books, certifications, live events, and AI simulations, through an intelligent learning platform, which was used by 6,000+ Lam employees in the past year.
Bottom line: With an 89.7% employee retention rate, Lam strives to create a work environment where every employee feels valued, included, and empowered to reach their full potential.
Nikki Salenger, senior director, U.S. talent acquisition and mobility at Lam Research, and Elizabeth Greene, senior director, Global Learning and Development at Lam Research
Related Articles
- Semiverse Solutions Addresses the Semiconductor Industry's Toughest Challenges
- SEMulator3D and the Future of Engineering Education
Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Statements made in this article that are not of historical fact are forward-looking statements and are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements relate to, but are not limited to: market and industry expectations and our talent development goals. Some factors that may affect these forward-looking statements include: trade regulations, export controls, trade disputes, and other geopolitical tensions may inhibit our ability to sell our products; business, political and/or regulatory conditions in the consumer electronics industry, the semiconductor industry and the overall economy may deteriorate or change; the actions of our customers and competitors may be inconsistent with our expectations; supply chain cost increases and other inflationary pressures have impacted and may continue to impact our profitability; supply chain disruptions or manufacturing capacity constraints may limit our ability to manufacture and sell our products; and natural and human-caused disasters, disease outbreaks, war, terrorism, political or governmental unrest or instability, or other events beyond our control may impact our operations and revenue in affected areas; as well as the other risks and uncertainties that are described in the documents filed or furnished by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including specifically the Risk Factors described in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 25, 2023 and our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2024. These uncertainties and changes could materially affect the forward-looking statements and cause actual results to vary from expectations in a material way. The Company undertakes no obligation to update the information or statements made in this article.