[rossdavidh]

True that, but if they didn't have enough engineering graduates, they wouldn't just not run the fab. They would suddenly discover that a few engineers at the R&D fab, plus some motivated and smart high school graduates at the production fab, can totally make things run. The fabs will not sit idle due to a lack of college graduates.

[BostonEnginerd]

A lot of what needs to be done definitely is not rocket science, and much of it can be trained -- at least when things are going well.

One thing I do appreciate is that there is a pretty good meritocracy at the second tier fabs working on legacy nodes. I know a fair number of folks who have worked their way up into upper management with only an associates or bachelors degree.