America's chip-building boom is running into a worker shortage, which is bad news for TSMC, Intel, Samsung and other companies racing to open new US factories.

• The US chip industry could be short 157,000 workers by 2030, according to a new McKinsey and SEMI Foundation report.
• Only 3% of US engineering graduates go into semiconductors each year, and most chip companies say hiring engineers is a major struggle.
• TSMC's first three Arizona plants need 6,000 workers, and Samsung, Micron and SK Hynix are all competing for the same small talent pool.
• Advanced chipmaking skills are concentrated in Asia, so Samsung and SK Hynix are flying Korean staff to the US and TSMC has trained US workers in Taiwan.
• TSMC is recruiting from a dozen US universities and running a technician training program with Arizona State, while Purdue and ASU pour millions into new chip courses.

Outlook: Bringing in foreign workers on H-1B visas is costly and slow, so chipmakers will have to build a homegrown US talent pipeline, which will take years and could slow the pace of expansion.