Can Photonics Overcome A Decades-Long Hiring Challenge?
By John Oncea, Editor
Advances in technology and applications are fueling the growth of photonics in more fields including military, communication, aerospace, and automotive to name but a few. These advances have increased the need for photonics professionals but, ironically, photonics has been facing a shortage of qualified technicians for decades now. This is a problem that threatens to slow the industry's growth and is presenting photonics companies with some difficult hiring challenges.
The photonics industry has seen remarkable growth in the past few years but photonics companies have had a hard time hiring at a similar pace. With photonics expected to play a more influential role within a diverse range of sectors, from durable medical equipment manufacturers to automotive industries and beyond, there’s never been more demand for qualified individuals with high levels of expertise.
But what does the current state of recruiting and onboarding look like here in 2023? Let's explore just that; the ins and outs of hiring for photonic companies — all with an eye toward how this may shift or progress over time.
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| Estimates are there will be 2,200 new job openings in photonics in the U.S. annually through 2030. |
| This growth has brought new urgency to the long-standing technician shortage. |
| Current educational resources and student interest are insufficient to meet this growing demand. |
| Employers in the photonics industry must look for alternative solutions such as recruiting candidates with transferable skills and investing in training programs. |
Photonics’ talent shortage isn't a recent problem writes Stewart Wills, Senior Editor, Optics & Photonics News at Optica. Will cites the creation of the National Center for Optics and Photonics Education (OP-TEC) by Daniel Hull and John Souders in 2006 as an example of how far back this problem goes.
OP-TEC was created "to advance high-school and community-college programs that train (technicians) through curriculum and instructional-material development, needs assessments, and a fair amount of evangelism." Three years later, Hull and Souders "wrote of an 'urgent need for technicians in optics and photonics,' and cited statistics pointing to a significant shortfall of qualified personnel."
he need for technicians has only grown in the intervening 14 years, driven by emerging areas such as advanced manufacturing and integrated photonics. During the same period "the pipeline of qualified students has dwindled," writes Wills.
The decline of technicians and other optics-related professionals couldn't have come at a worse time. A 2021 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Office of Open Learning study, commissioned by AIM Photonics, found "that the U.S. optics and photonics industry might require as many as 3,500 newly minted 'middle-skilled workers' annually through the end of the decade, including some 2,200 new engineering technicians per year."
Unfortunately for the industry, the AIM Photonics study found that, at current graduation rates, there is a need for some 140 associate-degree-granting training programs, roughly seven times the number active in the country today.
"The workforce challenge extends beyond the technician shortage," writes Michal Lipson, President of Optica. "Several startups (the author is) involved with, for example, report ongoing difficulty in recruiting qualified optical engineers. The rapidly expanding horizons of quantum technology have created an imperative to define and staff a new 'quantum workforce.'
"And the problem crosses international boundaries. In its 2021–27 strategic agenda, the European technology platform Photonics21 cited appropriate academic and vocational training and skills development as a key 'pan-European' challenge."
Solving The Photonics' Talent Shortage
Photonics is an ever-evolving field, requiring employers to look for the latest knowledge and skills when seeking to hire professionals in their field. On top of these technical qualifications, photonic professionals must be able to think critically and apply problem-solving techniques to tackle any challenge presented.
Fortunately, the photonics community is taking concrete steps to address this challenge. According to Lipson, there are currently twenty community colleges in the U.S. providing technician training programs which have been bolstered by generous funding from the Department of Defense's AmeriCOM program. Additionally, initiatives like PhotonHub Europe and Carla are working to increase career education opportunities.
Other ways to ease the talent-shortage burden, according to Wills, include "building a sustainable, ongoing supply of skilled technicians ... particularly as the technology continues to evolve. Much discussion at present, for example, revolves around the need to build a new kind of workforce that can support the envisioned growth in quantum technology — and whether (and, if so, how much) optical technicians will need to know about the weird quantum world to do their jobs."
But the biggest challenge is the same one that has plagued photonics for decades: attracting and retaining promising students who might want to pursue a technician career. "Some of the difficulty may stem from unfamiliarity with photonics and how pervasive it is in modern communications, sensing, and other technologies," writes Wills.
To overcome these challenges, the photonics industry has to rally together and show prospective hires that photonics is a fairly lucrative and rewarding field. Wills quotes Brian Monacelli, who runs the PCC LaserTech program in California, as saying, "Unfortunately, in our society, technicians are viewed as ‘blue-collar’ workers. I couldn’t agree less … These are the people who actually touch the parts that go into complex systems — medical devices or instruments going into space. They’re the ones who, in a sense, make the dreams come true."
Simplifying A Complex Situation
The current hiring environment in photonics is complex. Employers have specific needs but there are a limited number of potential candidates that are available to meet these needs. Photonics companies should be prepared to pay premium salaries for talent, as well as invest in training programs and new hire onboarding processes to ensure they are getting the best candidates available. Staying competitive in this difficult market will require a long-term commitment to attracting and retaining top talent.
The photonics industry faces a significant challenge in recruiting and retaining qualified professionals. However, with initiatives like PhotonHub Europe and AmeriCOM providing generous funding to community college technician training programs, along with increased public awareness of how pervasive this technology is becoming in our lives, concrete steps are being taken to address the talent shortage. With employers making long-term commitments to attracting and retaining top talent by offering competitive salaries and investing in onboarding processes, we may see an influx of new hires into the field soon enough.