The Experience Gap: Why Mid-Level Talent Is Disappearing in Semiconductors & MedTech

Mid-level engineers are becoming one of the hardest groups to hire in semiconductors and MedTech. Not graduates. Not senior leaders. The real pressure point is the engineer with five to ten years’ experience: technically credible, commercially aware, and able to work without heavy supervision.

For hiring managers, this is creating longer vacancy times, higher salary pressure, and more risk sitting with already-stretched senior teams.

Why the middle is thinning out

The UK semiconductor sector is facing “acute challenges” in sustaining and growing its workforce, according to the DSIT UK Semiconductor Workforce Study. It points to global demand, limited domestic pipeline capacity, and competition for specialist skills as key issues. Europe alone is expected to need around 155,900 additional semiconductor workers by 2030.

MedTech is seeing similar pressure. The Association of British HealthTech Industries has estimated the UK will need 70,000 additional HealthTech jobs by 2035, plus 75,000 replacements for people leaving the workforce.

The issue is not simply “not enough engineers”. It is that too few engineers are reaching the level where they can lead validation work, own design decisions, understand regulatory constraints, or bridge hardware, software, quality and manufacturing.

Why semiconductors feel it sharply

Semiconductor businesses need experience that takes years to build: RF, photonics, compound semiconductors, process engineering, test, yield, packaging, device physics, cleanroom operations and failure analysis.

South Wales has a strong compound semiconductor cluster, but local research highlights shortages in STEM graduates entering the sector, underdeveloped apprenticeship routes, and a need for more continuous professional development inside businesses.

That means mid-level engineers are often created internally, not found easily on the open market. When they leave, the loss is bigger than one vacancy. Businesses lose process knowledge, customer context and informal mentoring capacity.

Why MedTech has the same problem

MedTech engineering is not just product design. A strong engineer may need to understand ISO 13485, risk management, usability, verification and validation, embedded software, electronics, materials, supplier quality, clinical use cases and documentation.

As devices become more connected, software-led and AI-enabled, the most valuable engineers are those who can combine technical judgement with regulatory discipline. Recent government-backed MedTech qualification activity reflects the scale of the skills challenge, with new routes aimed at technicians and regulatory roles.

For hiring managers, this creates a narrow candidate market. A good design engineer from another regulated sector may be trainable, but they will still need support to understand medical device compliance and patient-risk thinking.

What hiring managers should do next

The first step is to separate “must-have now” from “can be trained”. For semiconductors, that may mean prioritising cleanroom, RF, photonics or test experience while flexing on specific tools. For MedTech, it may mean hiring strong regulated-sector engineers and building ISO 13485 or MDR exposure around them.

Salary benchmarking also matters. Mid-level candidates know they are in demand. If pay bands are based on historic internal structures rather than current market conditions, hiring will stall.

Finally, protect the engineers you already have. Mid-level talent often leaves when progression is vague, senior engineers are overloaded, or technical career paths are weaker than management routes.

What can we do?

The experience gap will not be solved by graduate hiring alone. Graduates are essential, but they will not replace five years of semiconductor process knowledge or MedTech validation experience overnight.

Hiring managers need a clearer view of the market, stronger retention plans, and a more realistic approach to transferable skills.

If you’re hiring engineering talent in semiconductors or MedTech and want a realistic view of the market in South Wales or across the UK, IntaPeople can help with talent mapping, salary benchmarking and hard-to-find specialist skillsets.