Chip makers who want access to billions of dollars in new federal funding will first have to figure out how workers will access affordable child care, per a new requirement from the Commerce Department.
Parents, particularly women, can’t go to work if they can’t find child care — a problem that’s only grown more acute, first in the pandemic and now in the tight labor market. This move is a clear acknowledgement from the administration that child care issues are intertwined with the economy and employment.
The multi-billion dollar CHIPS bill was signed into law last year as a way to bolster the domestic production of semiconductors — a vital component for almost every electronic device we use today — and to help prevent future supply chain crises.
Companies who want to tap a slice of the $39 billion in funding set aside to build chip manufacturing plants will be required to submit a plan explaining how facility workers, as well as construction workers, will access child care, according to a presentation from the Commerce Department shared with Axios.
Read more at Axios.