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The High-Tech Workforce Has Changed—and
Employers Need to Change With It
A conversation with Tamara Ellestad, Founder & CEO, VELO
With new fabs breaking ground and
existing ones ramping up across
the country, finding the engineers,
tradespeople, and cleanroom staff to
build and run them has become one
of the industry’s quieter bottlenecks.
Semiconductor Digest caught up
with Tamara Ellestad of VELO, a
woman- and minority-owned staffing
firm specializing in advanced manufacturing, to talk talent, timing,
and what employers are still getting
wrong.
Q: VELO places engineering and
trade talent for fab, cleanroom, and
data center builds. What does the
hiring landscape look like right now?
Staffing has increased significantly over the last two years as an
unprecedented number of advanced
manufacturing facilities have been
built. The landscape has changed,
and the high-tech workforce is not
the same as it was even a few years
ago.
Candidates with highly specialized skills—Tool Installation,
for example—are receiving multiple
calls a day about opportunities
across the United States and abroad.
They have options, and they know it.
Companies need to remain engaged
with the challenges and trends
impacting the workforce. If they
are not paying attention to what is
happening in the talent market, they
will not win the talent they need.
Companies that are not leveraging
strategic workforce partners are
putting themselves at a disadvantage
6 | Tuesday, October 13
against competitors that
distinguishing advantages
are.
of working with a straIt is also imperative that
tegic sourcing partner.
organizations revisit their
Talent Acquisition
workforce models. The
teams operating in a
talent market in high-tech
purely reactive model
industries increasingly
are feeling the impact.
includes experienced
Being reactive and quick
professionals who prefer
is important in today’s
contractual or projmarket, but being reactive
ect-based engagements.
with a talent pipeline that
For many—particularly
was built six to twelve
those with families
months ago is even more
Tamara Ellestad,
established in their
powerful.
Founder & CEO,
communities—relocating VELO | tamara@
Workforce planning
permanently simply
should not begin when
goVELOcs.com |
isn’t attractive. A 12–24
the project starts. It
goVELOcs.com
month travel engagement,
should begin when the
however, often is. The companies
opportunity is being pursued. The
that recognize and adapt to these
organizations that integrate Talent
preferences will have a significant
Acquisition and strategic workforce
advantage in the competition for
partners into that early process can
talent.
position themselves to move faster,
compete more effectively for scarce
Q: In your 2024 Industry
talent, and alleviate the resource
Observation piece for Semiconductor constraints that slow execution.
Digest, you flagged the industry’s
Preparation creates options.
tendency to be reactive rather than
Reactivity creates urgency.
proactive on staffing. Has that gotten
better or worse?
Q: What’s the biggest misconception
Being reactive is definitely the
companies have about hiring for fab
common theme in the market right
construction and cleanroom roles
now. The companies that planned
specifically?
ahead know who they are—and they Having a well-known name in the
are the ones winning the talent wars. industry does not automatically make
At VELO, we continuously
it easy to attract and retain talent.
resource and engage talent for
In today’s market, there needs to be
the positions we see repeatedly
more being offered.
across the industry. When our
The competition for talent in
clients say ‘go,’ we are already
advanced manufacturing and
prepared to respond. It is one of the
high-tech is fierce.
Continued on page 8
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