[baybal2]

> What would be the career path for a job in chip design and manufacturing?

Very long and very lucky.

I looked into microelectronics when I was a teenager. In 2009, you needed to be at the top of your class just to get an internship with a fab or a fabless.

In general, there are more automation with each year in both design and fab side.

Companies have luxury of employing people with 20 year careers at prices of average software devs in California.

[baybal2]

The only exception is, of course, China: their fabs offer 6 digit salaries for senior engineers, but work experience is famously bad.

All of them expect foreign specialists to come with some "magic trick solution" for their business refusing to work, and of course they get pissed off if told that there are no magic tricks in this business.

[westbywest]

I diverged from a very similar career path due to layoffs spurred by my employer being acquired, the remaining HW design team told to promptly relocate to Bay Area, whereupon they were gradually weaned out by extremely large work loads. Those to made it were then told to promptly relocate to SE Asia. The layoff, in hindsight, seemed the most appealing option.

[aswanson]

That's the market signalling low demand, and a dying field. Im so glad I didnt get that gig out of college at altera and got diverted into software by market forces.