Jerry Jones, executive director of the Pflugerville Community Development Corporation<\/a>, said that until recently there was little collaboration between these entities.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were silos that existed where folks knew that they should probably collaborate with one another, but no one really knew how to take that step and remove those silos,\u201d he said. \u201cThe best way to do it is just take a wrecking ball to those silos and start over, and I think that\u2019s what we\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n By the numbers<\/p>\n The number of workers needed to fill jobs in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos Metropolitan Statical Area by 2030, according to Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area<\/a>, include:<\/p>\n 48,000 total advanced manufacturing jobs8,000 new jobsAcross the 12-county region that includes Travis, Williamson, Bell, Burnet, Bastrop, Lee, Milam, Hays, Caldwell, Fayette, Balance and Llano counties, 33,000 new advanced manufacturing jobs will be needed by 2030.<\/p>\n Two-minute impact<\/p>\n With major projects underway in the semiconductor and advanced manufacturing sectors in Central Texas, industry leaders are facing a limited pool of talent to draw from.<\/p>\n For roughly a third of high-demand jobs, the region\u2019s supply of workers is at or below the national average, according to the latest Central Texas Semiconductor and Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Report. Many workers are also nearing retirement.<\/p>\n Large companies, such as Samsung Semiconductor Austin in Taylor, require a large workforce, and the area has seen an influx of third-party businesses open.<\/p>\n Samsung\u2019s Taylor plant will have about 1,000 employees<\/a> within the first two quarters of 2026, Michele Glaze, senior director of communications at Samsung Electronics, said at a Hutto Chamber of Commerce luncheon in October. For every one job, she said two to three additional jobs are generated.<\/p>\n In response, institutions such as Texas State Technical College<\/a> and Austin Community College, public schools like Pflugerville and Hutto ISDs, and other organizations are combining efforts to educate and train the workforce.<\/p>\n \u201cThe industry needed it yesterday,\u201d said Kelly Coke, provost at TSTC\u2019s Williamson County campus. \u201cThat’s our biggest challenge. It’s happening so fast and the demand is so high, and we’re moving as fast as we possibly can.\u201d<\/p>\n New companies and developments in the area are fueling the demand for advanced manufacturing workers.<\/p>\n As the new Samsung plant in Taylor is expected to become operational in 2026, companies in support of the semiconductor industry are flocking to the area. Recently, Dutch semiconductor supplier ASML announced plans<\/a> in October to take up over 32,000 square feet of office space within The Hutto Co-Op District. The company specializes in lithography machines used to mass produce chips.<\/p>\n Other companies contributing to the tech boom include semiconductor chemical manufacturing company Soulbrain<\/a>, Skybox PowerCampus Austin in Hutto, and Titan Mega TechCenter in Hutto.<\/p>\n In September, Italian-based Caracol opened its U.S. headquarters in Pflugerville, bringing its 3D printing and robotics technology to the market. The company manufactures large-scale industrial parts for several industries, including aerospace, energy, automotive, construction and automotive.<\/p>\n Caracol hired 10 employees to work out of the Pflugerville facility this year, and Violetta Nespolo, chief marketing and strategy officer, said the company expects to hire more over the next three years. She said the team assembles printing machines, tests them and ships them to customers, which requires engineers as well as workers with experience in 3D printing and robotics.<\/p>\n While the company values these \u201chard skills,\u201d Nespolo said Caracol also looks for candidates with strong communication.<\/p>\n Education requirements for entry-level technicians vary based on job responsibilities, ranging from a high-school diploma or short-term postsecondary training to a Level 1 certificate or an associate degree\u2014all paths that area institutions have created in recent years.<\/p>\n![\"chart](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762594452_318_thumbnail.jpeg\")
Diving deeper<\/p>\n![\"chart](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762594453_470_thumbnail.jpeg\")
The action taken<\/p>\n