Semiconductor Manufacturing Business Revisited: Good Old Days at AT&T Bell Labs Microelectronics Plant in Orlando, Florida

Abstract

If there were ever a time to bring the people back to the AT&T Bell Labs Microelectronics plant in Orlando, Florida, it would be now. The big reset in U.S. domestic semiconductor manufacturing, exacerbated by the CHIPS Act of 2022 to reestablish semiconductor fabricators (known as fabs), is vulnerable to constraints in the global supply chain that remain from the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering the semiconductor manufacturing fabs paradox to recall onshore manufacturing from the golden days of globalization, this study focuses on the people and community impacted at the Orlando plant by offering a unique perspective for future fabs to reflect upon, rather than repeat the same mistakes of the past (i.e., layoffs, plant closings, overseas technology transfer, and abandoned education partners and communities). Rather than elucidating the complexity of companies' business decisions to offshore fab operations or shuttering plants, this study reminisces regarding the "good old days" at the AT&T Microelectronics plant in Orlando, Florida (renamed Lucent Technologies Microelectronics, Cirent Semiconductor, and Agere Systems) in conjunction with the enormous challenges fabs face today to coexist with our planet for a sustainable business strategy to positively benefit people, the planet, and profit. This retrospective examination reveals insights from the people who worked at the most advanced semiconductor fab in the U.S. Led by Bell Labs' highly competent leadership team and technical staff, the fab developed leading-edge technology, created economic wealth, instilled an organizational culture of intellectual human value, and established university partnerships for a high-skilled workforce.