The CHIPS Act, the IIJA, and What They Mean for Your CNC and Maintenance Talent Strategy

Federal infrastructure spending just turned every machine shop and fab facility in the country into a direct competitor for the same CNC machinists, maintenance mechanics, and skilled tradespeople you’re trying to hire.

Two massive pieces of legislation, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), have poured hundreds of billions of dollars into domestic manufacturing, semiconductor production, and infrastructure projects.

That money is actively pulling people off your shop floor and into higher-paying roles at semiconductor fabs, EV plants, and federal construction contracts.

This post breaks down what these bills actually fund, where your best people are going, and how to adjust your CNC and maintenance hiring strategy before your next lead machinist or maintenance mechanic walks.

What the CHIPS Act and IIJA Actually Fund

Both bills are enormous, and both are creating demand for the exact same skilled trades roles you’re hiring for.

The CHIPS and Science Act

• $52.7 billion for domestic semiconductor manufacturing, with $39 billion going directly to chip fabrication facility construction
• 25% investment tax credits for companies purchasing specialized manufacturing equipment for domestic chip production
• Major construction projects underway in Arizona (TSMC), Ohio (Intel), Texas (multiple fabs), and New York (Micron), each requiring thousands of skilled tradespeople for both construction and permanent operations

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

• $1.2 trillion in total investment across roads, bridges, waterways, broadband, public transit, and energy infrastructure
• Prevailing wage requirements on federally funded projects, meaning structural welders, equipment operators, and maintenance trades on these contracts often earn 20–30% more than comparable private-sector roles
• Formula and competitive grants flowing to every state, creating localized demand spikes for skilled trades wherever your shop operates

The combined effect

As of May 2026, the CHIPS and Science Act, the IIJA, and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) have collectively catalyzed well over $1 trillion in announced private investment. This includes more than $645 billion in semiconductor and electronics supply chain projects across 140+ projects in 30 states, and substantial ongoing investment in electric vehicles, batteries, and broader clean energy manufacturing, though new EV and battery announcements have slowed in 2025 and 2026. That’s a massive amount of money chasing the same pool of CNC machinists, maintenance mechanics, fabricators, and welders you need.

Where Your People Are Going

1. Semiconductor fabs are hiring precision machinists at premium wages

Chip fabrication facilities need CNC machinists for tooling, fixture work, and precision component manufacturing. They’re offering base salaries in the $70K–$90K range plus relocation packages and training stipends.

Your CNC programmer making $55K just got offered $78K with a $10K signing bonus to move to Phoenix. That’s a hard conversation to win on loyalty alone.

2. Infrastructure projects are pulling structural trades off shop floors

Every bridge replacement, highway expansion, and water system upgrade funded by the IIJA needs structural welders, fitter-welders, and heavy equipment operators. Prevailing wage requirements mean these roles often pay significantly more than the same work in a private fab shop, and the projects are everywhere, including the same regions where your facility operates.

3. EV and battery plants want your maintenance mechanics

Battery manufacturing and EV assembly plants need maintenance mechanics who understand PLCs, hydraulics, robotics, and electrical systems across automated production lines. These are the same multi-skilled people you rely on to keep your CNC machines, press brakes, and welding equipment running. The pay premiums and benefits packages at these larger facilities are tough to compete with.

4. Federal training programs are competing for your entry-level pipeline

The CHIPS Act includes significant workforce development funding baked into every major grant. Intel’s $8.5 billion package, for example, includes $50 million specifically for workforce training. These facilities are building apprenticeship programs that recruit directly from the same community colleges and trade schools your shop depends on for new hires, and they often pay trainees during the learning period.

How to Adjust Your Hiring Strategy

You can’t outbid Intel or match prevailing wages on a federal bridge contract, but you can get smarter about how you recruit, what you offer, and who you’re looking for.

1. Hire for adaptability, train for your equipment

The perfect candidate with five years on your exact Fanuc setup, AWS D1.1 certification, and availability next Monday probably does not exist right now.

Widen your search to include candidates with adjacent skills: a manual machinist willing to learn CNC programming, a production welder who can cross-train on press brake operation, or an electrician ready to pick up mechanical maintenance. Build onboarding that translates adjacent experience into shop-floor proficiency within 90 days, and you’ll open up a much larger talent pool.

2. Compete on what big facilities can’t offer

Semiconductor fabs and infrastructure projects offer higher base pay, and you already know that. What they don’t offer is variety, autonomy, and speed of advancement. A CNC machinist at your shop might run 15 different jobs in a week across multiple materials and tolerances. At a semiconductor fab, they might program one fixture for six months. Make that variety visible during the hiring process, and show candidates exactly how a press brake operator becomes a lead fabricator or how a maintenance mechanic moves into a shop foreman role within two to three years.

3. Fix your compensation before you lose people

You don’t need to match semiconductor wages dollar-for-dollar, but you need to be in the conversation. A few things worth implementing right now:

• Annual market-rate reviews for CNC machinists, maintenance mechanics, and lead tradespeople. Don’t wait for a two-weeks notice to offer a raise.
• Retention bonuses tied to 12- and 24-month milestones, especially for code-qualified welders and multi-skilled maintenance mechanics.
• Certification incentives that cover AWS, NIMS, or equipment-specific training and reward completion with permanent wage bumps.

4. Speed up your hiring process

When your best candidates are fielding multiple offers simultaneously, a three-week hiring process with two interviews and a skills test is too slow. Make conditional offers within 48 hours of a successful weld test or machine tryout. Every day you wait, a recruiter from a battery plant or infrastructure contractor is making their pitch.

The CHIPS Act and IIJA reset the entire wage and hiring structure for CNC machinists, maintenance mechanics, fabricators, and every other skilled trades role in metal manufacturing. Federal dollars are flowing faster than most shops can adjust their recruiting budgets, and that pressure isn’t easing anytime soon. Move quickly on compensation, speed up your hiring timelines, and get creative about who qualifies, that’s how you keep your best people on the floor.

Are you losing CNC machinists, maintenance mechanics, or skilled fabricators to semiconductor fabs and infrastructure projects? Cannonball Recruiting works with metal fabrication shops, machine shops, and steel operations that need tradespeople who can handle your specific equipment and processes. We know the trades well enough to screen candidates properly, so you get someone who fits, not just someone who applied. Let’s talk about what your hiring needs to look like, reach out to Cannonball Recruiting today.