Europe’s semiconductor industry is growing rapidly, and with it comes an increasing demand for skilled professionals who can support design, manufacturing, packaging, testing, and emerging technologies across the entire value chain. To help address this challenge, the European Chips Skills Academy (ECSA) is hosting a dedicated skills workshop at EFECS 2024 on 4 December in Malta. This workshop brings together industry leaders, education partners, national stakeholders, and EU-funded initiatives to explore how Europe can build a strong and sustainable semiconductor workforce for the years ahead.

The goal of the workshop is to create a shared understanding of the current skills landscape while identifying where the biggest gaps lie. As Europe intensifies its semiconductor efforts under the EU Chips Act, the need for coordinated action has become more important than ever. Workforce shortages are already affecting companies, universities, and training institutions, and the complexity of semiconductor technologies means the demand for specialised talent will continue to rise. This workshop aims to take the first steps toward a unified strategy by examining where Europe stands and what must happen next.

Speakers, including Victoria Cummings(Senior Manager, Workforce Development & EU projects at SEMI) and Caroline Bedran (Director General AENEAS) representatives from multiple Chips Act–related projects, will guide participants through an exploration of ongoing skills initiatives. These include ECSA, ECDA, Chips of Europe, aCCCess, GreenChipsEDU, and other efforts focused on training, education, and capacity building. By reviewing these existing programmes, attendees will gain a clearer picture of the many activities already underway and how they align with Europe’s long-term objectives.

The workshop will also present insights from recent skills strategy research, highlighting labour shortages across technical roles, upcoming talent needs, regional challenges in training capacity, and barriers that affect mobility and career development. Examples from industry, academia, and national ecosystems will illustrate what is already working and where stronger collaboration is required. These real-world cases will help participants identify opportunities for harmonised training pathways and shared approaches to skills development across Europe.

A key part of the session invites attendees to directly contribute to the discussion. Participants will help identify the most pressing workforce gaps, explore areas that require immediate action, and highlight priorities for future projects under the EU Chips Act. Topics may include specialised technical training, upskilling and reskilling programmes, stronger university–industry links, micro-credentials, and long-term strategies for building a resilient talent pipeline. This collaborative exchange aims to begin shaping a European semiconductor workforce roadmap that can guide both short-term responses and long-term planning.

For ECSA, this workshop represents an important step forward. One of the academy’s core missions is to build a connected and future-ready skills ecosystem for Europe. By bringing together diverse stakeholders at EFECS, ECSA hopes to strengthen partnerships, ensure education and training programmes align with industry needs, and support a more coordinated approach to workforce development across Europe. The outcomes of this session will contribute directly to defining the next generation of skills initiatives and help inform Europe’s wider strategy for talent development in the semiconductor sector.

Stakeholders from industry, academia, training organisations, and national ecosystems are invited to join this important discussion in Malta. Registration for the workshop is available at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfs8TeNvDsvkh7XtPl4Ra8XXvgRv0_qfpTC8qNbjIecuAYrkA/viewform.

More information about the event and the full EFECS programme can be found at: https://efecs.eu/programme.

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