Joint Venture's Workforce Initiative Designed to `Grow Our Own` Silicon Valley Workforce SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 10, 1998--We've all seen the headlines and the pages and pages of classified ads. Silicon Valley's high-tech companies have thousands of jobs they can't fill. The problem? The skills of the local labor pool don't match the high-tech skills needed for the available jobs. Non-profit Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network has launched a new Workforce Initiative to help alleviate the immediate worker shortage, as well as to help grow the future workforce. The Initiative is being led by director Kay Mascoli, with help from co-chairs Neil Bonke, retired chairman of Electroglas, and Bob Caret, president of San Jose State University. `The vision of the new Workforce Initiative is for Silicon Valley to successfully grow and sustain a world-class workforce,` Mascoli said. `We have fertile ground here for great jobs; we need to better connect our youth and re-careering adults with the education they need to get these jobs and continuously invest in lifelong learning. We want to better leverage the talent and resources of the people who already live here.` The Workforce Initiative has three components: to identify and meet the immediate needs of industry; to grow our future workforce by enlightening our youth; and to continuously upgrade the skills of our existing workforce. As one of its first projects to meet the immediate needs of Silicon Valley industry, the Workforce Initiative has formed a unique collaboration among regional colleges and the semiconductor and equipment and materials industries, called the Semiconductor Industry Education Partnership. Its goal is to increase the number of skilled high-tech manufacturing technicians. Even with the recent layoffs announced by several semiconductor and equipment companies, there is expected to be double-digit growth in high-tech manufacturing jobs in 1999 and beyond, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the U.S. semiconductor trade association. It is predicted that Silicon Valley companies will need at least 3,000 new technicians over the next two to three years. The partnership wants to double the number of community-college students enrolling in the two-year associate degrees in electronics, with an emphasis on semiconductor manufacturing technology. Last year, 1,300 local graduates earned this degree, with 1,000 of them earning it from private Heald College. Projected salaries for technicians range from $35,000 to $40,000 in the first year. `Competitors such as Intel and National Semiconductor both realize that the labor market is so tight they needed to drop their differences and come to the table to help us find ways to train future workers,` Bonke said. In addition to Intel and National, more than 15 semiconductor and equipment and materials companies, including Applied Materials, Hewlett-Packard, Lam Research, Integrated Device Technology, KLA-Tencor, Electroglas, Advanced Micro Devices and Ultratech Stepper, have joined the partnership. More companies are welcome to join the partnership, Mascoli said. Community colleges that traditionally compete for students are also pooling resources in this partnership. Participating community colleges are San Jose City in San Jose, Mission in Santa Clara, Foothill in Los Altos Hills, Gavilan in Gilroy, Ohlone in Fremont and the College of San Mateo in San Mateo. Private schools Heald College and DeVry Institute of Technology have also been participating in the consortium. The community colleges and companies are partnering in special Enrollment Events in July. Students may enroll for the associate degree in electronics, with an emphasis in semiconductor manufacturing technology, and learn about future employment opportunities at the partner companies by attending one of these three Enrollment Events: -0- -- 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 21, in the Center Space at Mission Community College, 3000 Mission College Blvd., Santa Clara. -- 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 22, in the Student Activity Center at San Jose City College, 2100 Moorpark Ave., San Jose. -- 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 28, in the Technology Building at the College of San Mateo, 1170 W. Hillsdale Blvd., San Mateo. -0- `Students can find out about the courses for any one of the six colleges at these three events,` Bonke said. `This is a great opportunity for anyone wanting a new or better career to find out more about high-tech manufacturing technician jobs.` For more information about the Enrollment Events, call toll-free 888/4CHIPJOBS or visit www.4chipjobs.com on the Internet. Next steps for Joint Venture's Workforce Initiative include working with Information Technology companies to form a similar consortium, to recruit and train more workers, Mascoli said. `This is the first time I've seen such a broad collaboration between industry and education,` said Leo Chavez, chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District. `This will change the way business and education work together. And each year, the regional Workforce collaborative will identify the current urgent industry needs and work to address those needs.` For more information about Joint Venture's Workforce Initiative, call Joint Venture at 408/271-7213. --30--eb/sf.. CONTACT: Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network Kathy Maag, 408/938-1521 K--Maagjointventure.org KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS COMED INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET TELECOMMUNICATIONS EDUCATION Today's News On The Net - Business Wire's full file on the Internet with Hyperlinks to your home page. URL: http://www.businesswire.com