Most Semiconductor Executives Say Supply Chain Shortages Should Ease By 2024 | Accenture

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According to a new report from Accenture, three in four executives (76%) expect supply chain shortages to ease by 2024.

Still, the major financial services and advisory firm said companies must be prepared to withstand other market pressures by focusing on investments that will help drive future growth.

Accenture said the report is based on a global survey of 300 senior semiconductor executives who assess the supply chain outlook and innovation roadmaps of their companies.

Syed Alam, global head of high technology at Accenture, said in an interview with VentureBeat that the main issues include macroeconomic effects, ongoing challenges from COVID-19, talent pool, supply chain issues. supply and lack of sufficient investment. Event

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The report says semiconductor companies are at the center of technological innovation, finance, geopolitics and human ingenuity, touching virtually every aspect of business and people's lives. The past few years, however, have been far from smooth. The industry is still reeling from the chip shortage crisis, and manufacturers are being challenged to build resilience due to ever-increasing demands on the supply chain.

Semiconductor companies also face ongoing conflicts that disrupt energy supplies and entire supply chains, record economic inflation and fears of recession, and a tight labor market that prevents companies from recruiting and retaining qualified talent.

“Industry executives think the talent pool is a much bigger issue than investment,” he said. “It's also a bigger issue than geopolitics. That's one of the findings that I find very interesting.”

This shortage is a big problem in the United States, where thanks to the Chips and Science Act, signed into law by President Joseph Biden in August to provide $280 billion for chip manufacturing in the United States, among other things, there is strong pressure to build domestic manufacturing, Alam said. The same challenge is true for Europe.

"You need all these skilled people in manufacturing," he said.

Executives cited challenges that could affect their ability to innovate even as the lingering effects of COVID-19 on the supply chain grow.

Other most commonly identified challenges include geopolitics (cited by 48% of respondents), cybersecurity threats (42%), changing competitive landscape (39%) and...