Inequality at Work: Good Jobs for Whom?

The field of semiconductor manufacturing is disproportionately white and male. 

A recent analysis of official reports by seven big semiconductor manufacturing firms found that Hispanic, Black, and women workers are underrepresented in the workforce, particularly at the management and executive levels. 

• Hispanic and Black workers make up just 7.9% and 4.9% of the semiconductor industry workforce, though they make up 18.9% and 13.6% of the general population.
• Those few Black and Hispanic workers are concentrated in lower paying and more dangerous semiconductor jobs. Hispanic and Black workers make up 15.1% and 9.1% of the blue-collar workforce, respectively.
• Only 24.1% of workers in the semiconductor industry are women.
• Upper management is overwhelmingly white and male. Less than 2% of upper management in the industry are Hispanic, and less than 2% are Black. Just 14.5% of the industry’s executives are women.

Shockingly, the industry’s record has gotten worse in recent decades. In 1990, the US semiconductor and electronics industries employed more women and a more representative share of Black and Hispanic workers than they do today.