Three guiding principles inform all our work at the SEMI Foundation.
- First, the semiconductor industry needs a larger pipeline of workers.
- Second, a diverse workforce is stronger than a homogenous one.
- And third, many people from diverse backgrounds would thrive in the semiconductor industry if only they could find their way here.
We know all this is true. That’s why the SEMI Foundation has spent the last nine months researching, exploring, debating, creating, re-working, and finalizing two new resources designed to help the microelectronics industry prosper: SEMI’s Roadmap to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and SEMI’s DEI Toolkit. We are thrilled to share these resources widely with our workforce development partners in the industry and look forward to discussing them with SEMI members.
“As a global organization that supports the health and vitality of thousands of member companies, SEMI is committed to helping the semiconductor industry strengthen its workforce through embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion,” said Bettina Weiss, Chief of Staff and Corporate Strategy at SEMI, and the executive sponsor of the Roadmap and Toolkit. “These resources are designed to support our members in this work, wherever they are in their DEI journeys.”
A tremendous body of research demonstrates that more diverse and inclusive companies attract and retain more workers and are more productive and profitable. DEI is not just about social justice and doing the right thing. It is a business strategy that will help chip companies and industry thrive. This means that workforce development and DEI are inextricably intertwined. All chip industry programs and initiatives to expand the pool of potential workers and grow its workforce pipeline must reflect DEI strategies and values.
SEMI's Roadmap and Toolkit contain extensive recommendations, articles, and tools to encourage greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in the global semiconductor industry. But the essential work of DEI falls to each of us. All of us can be more intentional in how we make other people feel welcome and included. Many people practice this intention every day, but it is most certainly a journey, not a destination. As you read through SEMI's DEI resources, we invite you to pore over the research, data, and recommendations, explore what comes to mind, and think about how you might practice DEI every day. One resource in the Toolkit readers will find particularly helpful is SEMI’s DEI Event Guidelines.
“One of the most frequent requests we receive from our member companies is to help make their events more appealing and inclusive to different populations, and how to find speakers and panelists that represent diverse identities,” said Shari Liss, executive director of the SEMI Foundation. “To answer this call for help, we developed these guidelines with allies and experts in both DEI and event planning. We encourage everyone who plans or participates in events to read through these guidelines and consider adopting them as their own.”
Some recommendations in the Roadmap and Toolkit might be surprising. Should we offer compensation to people of color when we ask their help to find speakers who represent diverse communities? Should we sometimes refuse speaking opportunities to well-represented demographics in favor of recommending others who represent greater diversity? Should we consider capability instead of experience when recruiting talent? Yes, yes, and yes – and each of these questions is worth a thoughtful, frank conversation.
To that end, we invite you to join our DEI Roadmap and Toolkit Introduction Webinar this Thursday, August 26 from 10:00am to 10:45am PT. We will introduce the tools available in these documents, discuss some of its strategies, and engage in a robust discussion about its DEI recommendations for the semiconductor industry. All are welcome, and we look forward to seeing you there.
As the Roadmap tells us, “DEI is not a checkbox, or a task; it is a daily practice, and one that requires participation from every employee, no matter their title or role in the organization.” Creating greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in the semiconductor industry will take all of us. We hope you will join us in this critical effort to strengthen the industry, and use the Roadmap and Toolkit to support DEI in your company.
If you have questions or comments, or want support in your own DEI efforts, please reach out to us at semifoundation@semi.org.
Michelle Williams is deputy director of the SEMI Foundation.