Semiconductor Talent & Employer Partnership (STEP UP)
Semiconductor Careers and Training in Upstate New York
Most of these jobs do not require a four-year degree. STEP UP works with colleges to build the training and with employers to define what they actually need, so that the two line up.
What step up is
What the Semiconductor Talent and Employer Partnership does
About 14,000 semiconductor jobs are projected for the I-Corridor over the next decade, and roughly 5,000 of them are technician-level roles. The training for them is built with the manufacturers doing the hiring.
STEP UP is led by Monroe Community College with the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, the Greater Rochester Chamber, and CenterState CEO. It works through two kinds of staff based in each metro. Industry Partners work with employers to define what they actually need, find training that matches, and help build hiring practices that widen the pool. Workforce Innovation Partners take that information back to colleges and training providers, and seed new programs where none exist. More than 75 institutions across the region have already committed to workforce programs, and over 100 training programs already exist. They were not built for semiconductor work, and they are spread across three metropolitan areas. STEP UP is one program of the NY SMART I-Corridor, the federally designated Tech Hub across Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Ithaca.
Source: STEP UP Component Project Narrative. Job counts are coalition projections built on public employer commitments.
How STEP UP helps businesses
Dedicated support
Direct access to the Director of Industry Partnerships to help find, hire and retain skilled talent.
Tailored solutions
Translation of specific hiring needs into training programs or upskill pathways in partnership with colleges, unions and community-based organizations.
Workforce intelligence
Real-time labor market data, skill maps and demand forecasts that drive smart business decisions.
On-RAMP opportunities
Employers may have the opportunity to be supported through co-design and piloting of new job-aligned training programs, pilot funding, wraparound services for talent retention (like childcare and transportation), and the launch of employer-led work-and-learn initiatives across the NY SMART I-Corridor.
5,000
Around 5,000 of the roles coming to this region are technician-level positions, alongside 2,500 engineering roles and 4,000 construction jobs, with construction demand peaking as early as 2026. What has been missing is not interest but a route in. STEP UP has funded seven training projects across the corridor so far, each built with the employers doing the hiring rather than for them. They run at different lengths, because the people entering them start from different places.
Source: STEP UP Component Project Narrative, coalition projection built from public employer commitments and modeled indirect jobs
Who This is for
Who Can Work in Semiconductor Manufacturing?
01
You’re looking for a career change
You do not need a chip background or a four-year degree. Trades experience, manufacturing experience and technical aptitude all translate. How long it takes depends on the route you pick: some programs run a few months, some stack in short blocks you can take while working, and some are two-year degrees. If you already run a machine, there are programs that let you test past the beginner level.
02
You’re an employer who needs to hire
An Industry Partner based at the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, the Greater Rochester Chamber or CenterState CEO will work through your talent needs, point you to training that matches, and help you build hiring practices that widen the pool you can draw from. Many of the employers hiring for this work are manufacturers moving into the semiconductor supply chain.
03
You run a college or training program
Workforce Innovation Partners translate what employers say they need into program design, provide seed funding to pilot industry-aligned programs and certificates, and help replicate models that already work, such as the electrical technology associate degree Onondaga Community College developed with Micron.
Source: STEP UP Component Project Narrative, scope of work and populations served
Semiconductor Talent and Employer Partnership Upstate New York
About 14,000 new semiconductor-related job opportunities are expected to arrive in Upstate New York over the next decade. To meet this massive workforce demand and directly address talent needs and gaps, the NY SMART I-Corridor’s employer-led STEP UP initiative is coordinating investments in training infrastructure, wraparound supports and inclusive access to high-quality manufacturing careers.
How it works
How STEP UP Builds the Pipeline
Training that leads to a job
STEP UP funds pilots of industry-aligned programs and certificates and scales the ones that work, rather than starting from scratch. Seven projects are funded so far and they look different from one another by design: a two-level CNC pathway at Northland Workforce Training Center in Buffalo, heavy equipment operator training with IUOE Local 158 in Syracuse, and established degrees like Monroe Community College’s optical systems program in Rochester. The target across the program is 6,200 people trained for technician roles and 3,200 for construction by 2034.
Programs built from real demand
An industry council of semiconductor employers keeps a running, role-by-role picture of what the region is hiring for, checked against public labor market data. Colleges and training providers design against that picture rather than against what they taught last year. It is the reason a new program can open with employers already lined up to interview the people coming out of it.
Hands-on help for employers
An Industry Partner sits at the economic development organization in each metro and works with employers one at a time: defining what a role actually requires, finding training that already matches it, and building hiring practices that widen the pool you can draw from. Where nothing exists for what you need, they help define the minimum viable skills so a program can be built for it.
Pathways that stay open
Where programs are built for it, training stacks rather than restarting. On Northland’s CNC pathway, someone who already has the Level 1 competencies can demonstrate them through an assessment and enter Level 2 without repeating skills they have mastered, so an experienced operator moves up to setup technician without sitting through a beginner course. STEP UP also works through ON-RAMP, New York State’s $200M advanced manufacturing training investment, to bring programs into the communities that need them and to cover the things that stop people finishing training, such as childcare and transportation, along with stipends.
why here, why now
Why Build a Semiconductor Supply Chain in New York State
14,000
semiconductor jobs projected for the I-Corridor over the next decade
Source: STEP UP narrative, coalition projection
5,000
of those are technician-level roles that do not require a four-year degree
Source: STEP UP narrative
$1.4M
allocated across seven STEP UP training projects in the corridor, with the first two already under contract
Source: NY SMART I-Corridor funding round, September 2026
100%
completion and job placement on Northland’s finishing and deburring program, where applicants interview with employers before they enroll
Source: Northland Workforce Training Center
Only one
precision optics associate degree in the country, at Monroe Community College in Rochester
Source: STEP UP Component Project Narrative
$200M
New York State investment in advanced manufacturing training through ON-RAMP, with the Syracuse flagship and three further sites named
Source: Empire State Development, ON-RAMP
proof
Where You Can Train for Semiconductor Work
Programs you can enroll in now
Manufacturers involved in step up contracts:
Source: STEP UP Component Project Narrative and the NY SMART I-Corridor funding round, September 2026. MCC runs the only precision optics associate degree in the country. Onondaga Community College built its electrical technology degree with Micron. Northland’s CNC pathway was designed with about ten regional manufacturers, Edwards Vacuum and Moog among them, after Edwards raised that it would rather hire into a pipeline it helped build than take experienced machinists from neighboring employers..
FAQ
Semiconductor Career Questions, Answered
No. Of the roles projected for this region, about 5,000 are technician-level positions that do not require one. A further 2,500 are engineering roles that do. Community college programs, certificates and apprenticeships all lead into this industry, and part of STEP UP’s work with employers is removing degree requirements where they are not genuinely needed.
Programs are running now in all three metros. In Buffalo, the Northland Workforce Training Center runs a two-level CNC pathway of 15 weeks per level, built with about ten regional manufacturers. Monroe Community College in Rochester runs the only precision optics associate degree in the country. Onondaga Community College developed an electrical technology associate degree with Micron. Across the region there are more than 15 community colleges, over 500 associate majors aligned with manufacturing, and more than 50 non-degree training programs.
No. The region’s existing manufacturing and trades workforce is the talent pool this industry is drawing from. STEP UP’s own analysis found that jobseekers are often unaware these opportunities exist, and that many employers use a degree as a proxy for skills, which rules out people who could do the work.
No. The region’s existing manufacturing and trades workforce is the talent pool this industry is drawing from. STEP UP’s own analysis found that jobseekers are often unaware these opportunities exist, and that many employers use a degree as a proxy for skills, which rules out people who could do the work.
Keep Reading
More on Semiconductor Careers in Upstate New York
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