Communications of the ACM
More Businesses Want Workers With Math or Science Degrees
Globalfoundries has embarked on a crash program to train future workers for its wafer fabrication facility in Malta, N.Y.
Credit: Christian Science Monitor / Getty
A shortage of highly skilled U.S. technology workers comes amid mounting concerns over a national failure to produce sufficient numbers of talented science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduates.
Globalfoundries, for example, is struggling to fully staff a semiconductor plant in Malta, N.Y., because it cannot find enough people with the right technical skills. The company has undertaken a crash program to train future workers in conjunction with local school districts, the State University of New York (SUNY), and other partners."We know the problem and we are throwing a lot of solutions at it, but it takes a while to get a return," says SUNY chancellor Nancy Zimpher. SUNY has embarked on a mentoring program funded by a U.S. National Science Foundation grant that couples graduate students and postdoc fellows with middle schoolers interested in STEM careers.
Meanwhile, Bayer Corp. this week is expected to release a survey that found half of the recruiters from large U.S. companies cannot find enough potential employees with four-year STEM degrees in a timely manner. Survey respondents said the shortage was most acute for people in computer-related fields and engineering. In addition, two-thirds of the respondents said their companies were creating more STEM jobs than other positions.
From The Wall Street Journal
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