Bridging Technology and Talent In the Age of AI: Expanding the Talent Pipeline through Semiconductor Apprenticeships | The Six Five Summit

Are we joined right now by Mike Russo. He is the CEO of the National Institute for Industry and Career Advancement. Uh, Mike, glad to have you, uh, give me 10 seconds.

We Are focused on making sure strategic industry sectors have what they need to continue to, in innovate. Our major focus is, is really the development of the nation's talent pipeline to support those sectors. So think of tech-based industries and advanced manufacturing and the supply chain needed to support them, you know, broadening that supply chain.

So that's really our main focus. Yeah, it's so interesting the problems in finding, you know, we we're in this wonderful era right now where we've had super, super low unemployment, and yet the weakest sector for employment has been the strongest sector for the last 10 or 20 years in general, which is technology. Yeah, that's true.

Well, if you think of the proliferation of technology and, and just how it's growing and expanding, I mean, you can imagine it's sort of naturally that you're gonna need a workforce, but if you think of what's been happening through the education system, both from a K 12 preparedness for STEM related fields, whether it's interest or whatever, as well as the rising cost of college, right? It's, you could understand why there'd be an imbalance there. So, well, You don't have to tell me.

I got, I got, I got three going to college next year, another one in the, in the pipeline. And it is, it's also interesting how you get, um, the, the mixed levels of outcomes, right? You have a lot of colleges that are very expensive, but the people come out of there with degrees that don't have the value that the same degree might have from an elite institution.

And, and then of course, you've got so many people who aren't getting that opportunity, uh, to, to get a, an elite, um, four year post, uh, high school education. And yet the, the jobs in the tech industry, I feel like that's right where your sweet spot of getting workers ready to work in tech. Yeah, absolutely.

And, and, and, and I think you hit the nail right on the head there, is that a, there's a shortage of talent B there's fewer people that could pursue those types of degrees, right? Uh, and then how do you, how do you make sense of that? So that's really, uh, the foundational element, one of the foundational elements of our strategy.

So what we're really working on, we also have the National Center for Skills-based learning within the institute. So what we're really focused on is leveraging the existing K 12 system, career and technical education community college system, but also importantly, registered appre apprenticeships designed for those industries so people can actually pursue those careers without having that degree. Sure, they can go back and get the degree to go up the ladder, but that's really a, a foundational pillar of our strategy, getting more people into the pipeline without having to write the big check.

So to really be that fulcrum point from, say, a high school education to a job working on some level at a semiconductor fab, and maybe moving on from that. Absolutely. So for example, we're a part of the strategy is we're, we're, uh, throughout the nation starting, we call it our gateway apprenticeship program, it's gap, but basically it's a pre-apprenticeship program.

So as we, uh, roll that out to the career technical education centers around the country, students that graduate from those career technical education programs in high school, we'll have already checked some of the foundational boxes they need to pursue those careers. And through our infrastructure, national talent hub, by the way, is something you should look at on, on our website, but through that infrastructure, they can transition seamlessly right into those careers and already have some of those skills needed. And if they do that through a registered apprenticeship, which which we sponsor, uh, they're able to actually start further up that ladder and, and take, get credit for what they've already learned, be of value to the employer more quickly, and also, uh, really focus on filling the gaps that they might have not have to relearn things.

I think about this sometimes when I talk to people who are in the military and trying to imagine transition from the military into, uh, uh, a domestic, uh, life and, and, and corporate life and, and thinking about those skill sets that came from, uh, skills learned in the military, while those might translate, what are the skill sets that you're talking about that people might have that would translate with a little bit of education into tech that people don't know our tech skills? Yeah, that, that's a very good point. So that's another, uh, pillar.

So we, we were working on, you think about diversity, more people in the, in the system. I mentioned K 12, everybody goes to school. So there's diversity built right in broaden the pipeline.

Returning service members is one of the three other pillars. Those folks that come out of the military, hydraulics, pneumatic statistics, process control, problem solving, troubleshooting, leadership skills, showing up on time. I mean, they showing up on Time.

Yeah, I mean, they're on Time is late. That's a skill y you laugh, but it's true. They, they're so, they bring really some strong foundational skills.

The challenge was initially when we were, uh, looking at it is that the MOS is the, the different branches of the service have different moss as they're called. And, and we were trying to figure out how to map that we ended up coming up with, in our system in National Talent Hub doesn't make any difference. Where you've acquired the skillset, you can come in, establish a profile in that system.

It will read where you came from, what you know and match you to the current. It's a dynamic system, the current needs of industry. It also aligns curriculum from all, all the various providers of training and education IT in real time.

It's a dynamic system alliance training. So think about three, think about the, the re veteran or the individual, the adult looking to map a career education, think about the employer with the job requirements and think about the whoever provides the training and in real time, uh, aligns them. So those veterans come out, they, instead of getting ghosted because they don't have five years of specific advanced manufacturing skill, they actually can leverage it and get respect for what they have learned and go right into those programs.

So how does, uh, I wanna talk about the CHIPS act. I wanna talk about ai. Let's start with CHIPS Act.

How does the, what is it, $50 billion going into, um, uh, to encourage semiconductor companies to build plants in America, um, uh, through all kinds of tax breaks and incentives and, and RD credits and so on. Uh, how does the CHIPS act and the construction of, of fabrication facilities in the United States change the game for what you're doing? Yeah, so it's interesting.

So on one note, it's, it's really powerful and really good that the US has that form of industrial policy and funding behind it. So it's a kind of an awakening from a nation perspective. Really good.

It's an important very strategic industry sector, as I'm sure you know. The flip side of that is whenever you offer funding, people come out of the woodwork to submit proposals, fund me, fund me, I'll develop this, I will do that. So inherently over fragmentation of e uh, efforts, and people oftentimes will offer to develop something that may have already been developed.

Like we're already, we're, we're a 5 0 1 C3. We've developed what we have with federal funding where the nation's, uh, the US Department of Labor's, national intermediary for innovative policy-based registered apprenticeships for, for, um, semiconductor nanotech sector supply chain, right? That's all funded.

So those funds should be spent in the same area, right? Same regions, but to deploy, not develop. So it's really interesting.

There's a, this awakening funding being spent, by the way, it's really not that much. You say 52 billion. 52,000 million, whoa.

Right? Lemme tell you, 39 billion that goes out the door to build fabs. Then the, then the remaining 13 billion or whatever is research and workforce.

Everybody's supposed to have res, uh, workforce, uh, part of their proposals. It's really not that much money. We absolutely are combating fragmentation and helping regions to know how to best deploy and not develop.

But it's very interesting, very interesting. A good problem to have, I guess, right? So, Yeah.

Yeah. Well, and look, it's, it's, it's a good thing to get our workers ready for the next generation and, and, uh, it's here. Um, and AI's here too.

And I think that, um, we see so many, um, uh, second derivative, third derivative impacts of, of ai. Uh, and I wonder in terms of the, uh, entry level workforce, because I think that's kinda what we're talking about here, what does AI mean for entry level workers, uh, and preparing them for jobs to work in ai? Yeah, I would say entry level technicians of all levels, even lower level engineers, let's say technicians.

So it's a really interesting, uh, dynamic because if you think about, uh, artificial intelligence, and by the way, if you ask 10 people about their definition of art artificial, you probably get 10 different definitions, right? But if you just think about a conceptually, there's no doubt over time there will be some of the existing workforce will be replaced because of artificial intelligence and what, what those capabilities are. But there's also additional jobs that will be created because of our, it's almost like when you went to automated fabs.

You, you people say, gee, you build an automated fab. There goes all the people that used to run the carts around with the wafers, now it's all on a track. No, you still have 3000 workers, 2000 are technicians.

They're just deployed differently. So I think that there's, uh, the foundational translational skills that are needed across technicians in, in advanced manufacturing and tech, that foundation will remain. It's some of the other skills.

Think of the little bit higher level skills or differentiators that, uh, will need to prepare the workforce in. So I think there'll be a shifting in the workforce. We need to realize what's gonna be going away and realize what we need to focus on, but importantly, which is again, a pillar of our strategy, make sure there's that we build those, uh, broad f uh, broad population with those foundational translational skills.

I think the other flip side of, Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. No, please.

I was gonna say the flip side of artificial intelligence is really how will it impact education, right? Think about rural communities or people that don't have access to this classroom, and you think about how 3D as already leveraged, uh, being leveraged in, in training and education, right? Put you right, right in with whatever you're working on or the application that you're building or deploying.

Think about what artificial intelligence can do also. So there's really two sides to the AI coin. The way I look at, Uh, I'm, what'd you think of the, there was a story in the Wall Street Journal, uh, I read it online, I started to read it online Monday.

I didn't finish it. The one, the physical paper came out on Tuesday. I did finish it.

Um, uh, but it, it was an interesting piece about people. Um, uh, it started with sort of how to change your resume and make it look ready for ai, but then it started with kind of training and, and, and talking about getting sort of the necessary tools and, and stating your past experiences, uh, as if they were AI experiences or the ai, um, uh, uh, worthy, um, credits and the things that people have done in the past. And I wonder what you thought of that, uh, that piece of, that idea of recasting your resume in terms of ai.

Um, I have mixed feelings about that. Um, that's like chasing, you know, chasing the, uh, chasing the, the, the cat around the yard, right? Um, I think that, um, being able to convey that you have those strong foundational skills required across all any form of tech.

Now you were talking about technician, this is, this is our focus, right? Not, not design and engineering, right? Um, um, making, if you can articulate that you have those strong foundational skills that can be applied to ai, I think that is more practical, especially as we're in an error where we're even defining ai, right?

Um, so I, I'm not gonna agree or disagree with, with the article, you know, I'm not gonna go there, but I do think some, there is something to be said for really having those strong foundational skills and being able articulate 'em in a way that they apply to the tech sector, whether it be semiconductor, whether it be biomanufacturing, nano, you know, any form of nanotechnology, et cetera. Because they will apply to ni or excuse me, ai Lemme, let me ask you lastly. Um, what is the biggest change, you think, and, and the ability of people to use AI to both train themselves and get themselves, uh, uh, get themselves ready in their, and their presentation of their work ready or of their careers ready to work in ai?

Yeah, so, uh, in the pre the presentation, p can, can you imagine how someone will be able to go in front of a screen, make their presentation, make their pitch, develop their application, you know, via, you know, online, and then have AI take it and refine it and play it back to you, and how you can tweak that and get it ready for, you know, Showtime, right? Um, it's interesting when you see, you see now about how some of the applications that they're talking about, uh, you know, you don't even know who you're talking to anymore when you hear somebody online, did they really say it right? Geez, that's, that's got, has to be them.

You know, it looks just like them. Well, that same technology can be used when you're developing your presentation, your presentation skills, as well as if you're developing design or applications, et cetera. I think the sky's the limit.

I mean, I think it's really gonna be endless move moving forward on how you can refine what you present, whether it be operationally, whether it be from a design or from an education or act, an actual presentation, right? It's, it's a fascinating time to enter into tech. Absolutely.

It's a absolutely, uh, it's so, it's so, it, I think it's uh, uh, it's just moving so, so quickly and, and actually AI is at the point where it's actually improving itself as quick, as quickly as we can sit here and talk about it, right? I don't know how you keep up with that. And that's another reason why it doesn't make sense to try to keep your resume up with it, right?

Make sure you have those strong skills and the attributes needed to succeed in that new world. He's Mike Russo, the CEO of the National Institute for Industry and a Career Advancement. Thanks for your time.

Thank you. Great. Talk to you.