Experts: design offshoring yielding mixed results

WASHINGTON — The globalization of semiconductor design is providing some competitive benefits for U.S. chip makers but is roiling the U.S. job market for engineers, a university study concludes.

A survey conducted by Clair Brown and Greg Linden of the University of California at Berkeley and presented at a National Academy of Engineering workshop on engineering offshoring found that the U.S. remains the leader in advanced chip design. But growing costs, competitive pressures and globalization are reshaping the industry in ways that are just now being understood.

"So far, offshore activities appear to complement design activities with expansion" in the U.S., the authors found. But the "long-run impact on U.S. leadership and jobs [remains] unclear."

In the meantime, China and India will grow in importance as markets and suppliers of engineers and design skills, they added.