Talent: layoffs but skill shortage

Tech companies are still cutting jobs in 2026, but chipmaking hubs in Europe and Malaysia are still short of engineers. (trueup.io) (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu) TrueUp’s layoff tracker said that as of April 16, 2026, tech companies had announced 238 layoffs affecting 93,833 workers this year. The same tracker listed fresh April cuts at Snap, Qualcomm, Meta and HCLTech. (trueup.io) At the same time, the European Union’s Chips Act says one of its five strategic objectives is “addressing the skills shortage and attracting new talent.” The law took effect on September 21, 2023 and set a target of doubling Europe’s global semiconductor market share to 20%. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu) Europe is now building training hubs to fill that gap. The European Commission said on June 24, 2025 that it had selected 27 Chips Competence Centres across 24 member states and Norway to expand semiconductor expertise and skills development. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu) Those centres are not factories. The aCCCess network, launched in March 2025 under the European Union Chips Act, describes them as hubs that provide training, prototyping, testing and small-scale production support. (acccess.eu) Malaysia is trying a bigger workforce push. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on May 28, 2024 that the country aims to train and upskill 60,000 high-skilled local engineers, backed by at least RM25 billion in fiscal support under the National Semiconductor Strategy. (mida.gov.my) Malaysia’s investment agency says the shortage is not just about headcount. It says chip companies need engineers in design, fabrication and testing, while higher salaries abroad are pulling experienced workers out of the domestic market. (mida.gov.my) The result is a two-speed labor market inside tech. Software, social media and information technology services are still shedding workers, while semiconductor policy in Europe and Malaysia is being built around a shortage of people with process, design and manufacturing skills. (trueup.io) (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu) (mida.gov.my) That split helps explain why layoffs alone are not easing hiring pressure in chips. The people being cut in broad tech are not automatically interchangeable with engineers needed to design circuits, run fabrication tools or qualify advanced packaging lines. (digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu) (mida.gov.my) For now, the layoffs make the headlines, but the hiring bottleneck sits deeper in the supply chain. Europe is opening competence centres and Malaysia is funding engineer training because chip expansion plans still need skills that many labor markets do not yet produce fast enough. (trueup.io) (acccess.eu) (mida.gov.my)