Will young Americans want to work in semiconductor manufacturing? [video]

Post by sudosysgen » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 4:29 PM UTC

novok wrote: post #259

imgabe wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you’re looking at this from the wrong perspective. If your other option is to be a FAANG software engineer, sure, do that instead. For the vast swathes of the country where the available jobs are some mix of retail/warehouse low wage drudgery, long haul trucking, drug dealing / fraud / other crime, or welfare, working in semiconductors might be a welcome and attractive option.

The vast majority of people who are smart enough and have the work ethic to finish an EE degree are also smart enough to become a FANG engineer. EE is harder than computer science by far. So for the set of people who can be fab engineers, live in the USA and speak English, yes, the FANG engineer option is always there.

Post by sudosysgen » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 4:33 PM UTC

derefr wrote: post #304

cxr wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't corroborate this at all. I come from a CS background. If you leave school and enter the workforce at SAS, you will be at a disadvantage insofar as you are looking for a workplace that you hope to learn something from or one that you hope reinforces good engineering practices. The semiconductor industry, from the vantage point of an experienced systems thinker, reinforces awful engineering practices. All the t…

> The semiconductor industry sources heavily from the defense sector What does this part mean, exactly? Are photolithography lasers just repurposed Naval anti-aircraft lasers or something?

Post by R0b0t1 » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 6:08 PM UTC

0xbadc0de5 wrote: post #48

Just out of high-school, I worked in a fiber-optic component assembly plant - wave-division multiplexers, optical circulators, etc. It was clean room, bunny suit, microscope work for the most part. But it was also moderate-skill, repetitive work - they'd hire large cohorts and provide all the necessary training. If you could keep up with the quotas and QC, you were in and made a decent wage and there was some room fo…

Post by y0ungarmanii » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 7:45 PM UTC

klyrs wrote: post #130

logicchains wrote: post #109

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>As an outsider, it seems pretty clear that the rejection to the industry is more about the cultural mismatch than it is to the actual work needing to be executed. Look at Intel. It's a western company, but it famously fell behind its competitors due to offering comparatively shit pay and conditions to its staff, so the best people left. The problem is hardware company culture, not Asian company culture. Apple's M1 i…

Hot take, apparently: VHDL/Verilog developers should make 5x what JavaScript developers make, and not the other way around.

Post by formerkrogemp » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 10:20 PM UTC

leetcrew wrote: post #313

formerkrogemp wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

-> A close friend (from a non-CS engineering background) I know to still be at SAS. We don't talk about finances, but at around 8 years in, I estimate that he just recently (since COVID) crossed the six figure threshold. He's in a fairly senior role. Meanwhile: "What's x86?" — a direct quote from a conversation not too long ago. -> He has no real professional experience outside of SAS, was not set up in an environmen…

"crossed the six figure threshold" likely refers to salary. this is pretty easy to estimate based on title if the person works at a large, well-known company. but otherwise, you're right. you can't possibly estimate an ordinary person's net worth without intimate knowledge of their investments, spending habits, etc.