No. of Recommendations: 2
OK, the only link in this thread about DEI requirements in the CHIP bill comes from an opinion piece in the Hill. Meh.LOL. What exhaustive research you've done!
https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/592...Sec.4. Opportunity and Inclusion
This section would require the Department of Commerce to establish activities and assign personnel to
ensure that the recipients of CHIPS manufacturing incentives meet their commitments to increase the
participation of economically disadvantaged individuals in the semiconductor workforce. Such personnel
would also serve as a resource to support the participation of minority-owned businesses, veteran-owned
businesses, and women-owned businesses, in CHIPS-funded projects.Nothing wrong with this on its face, but as with everything, the devil is in the details.
More right-wing handwringing.I'm going to assume you never read the Hill article. If you did, you'd have seen that the vaunted CHIPS act is producing about as much as Buttigieg's electric charger stations push: almost nothing.
https://www.theverge.com/24166234/chips-act-fundin...Since the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act last August, eight companies have already received more than half of the planned government direct funding.
These companies have collectively received $29.34 billion in funding through the CHIPS Act for semiconductor factories across the country. The law, a $280 billion package to support innovation in the US, includes $52 billion in subsidies for semiconductor manufacturing and was passed last year.
These investments only concern the construction or expansion of semiconductor fabrication facilities and do not include government funding for other chip research facilities.So for $29Bn you'd think there'd be lots of shovels in the ground. There aren't.
Back to the Hill:
For instance, chipmakers have to make sure they hire plenty of female construction workers, even though less than 10 percent of U.S. construction workers are women. They also have to ensure childcare for the female construction workers and engineers who don’t exist yet. They have to remove degree requirements and set “diverse hiring slate policies,” which sounds like code for quotas. They must create plans to do all this with “close and ongoing coordination with on-the-ground stakeholders.”
No wonder Intel politely postponed its Columbus fab and started planning one in Ireland. Meanwhile, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo was launching a CHIPS-funded training program for historically black colleges.
