If chips are the brains inside mobile devices, the software embedded in those chips is like neurons firing faster than thought. “The chip is managed by software,” said Jonathan Langley, who directs IT sales and recruiting at telecom talent search firm Kineticom. Langley works regularly with a top-tier wireless chipmaker and says that when it comes to software, “they can’t fill positions right now,” because competition for software talent is so intense.
“Software is really an essential element these days to chip design,” said Broadcom’s executive vice president of global human resources Terri Timberman, adding that 35% of Broadcom’s workforce is now focused on software. “Our chips have become so complex that in order for our customers to harness the true power of chips we need to develop the core software to insure that we can seamlessly integrate our chips into their systems,” said Timberman. “We are always looking for engineers with skills at the physical layer, software systems, multimedia, embedded, the protocol stack, device driver, [and] applications.”
“We probably spend as much on R&D for software as we do on hardware these days,” said Stephen Turnbull, manager of wireless access products at Freescale. “It’s really expected by OEMs for the silicon vendor also to supply the layer 1 software … so that’s a key skill for us right now. The layer 1 software is very specifically tuned to the hardware. … So application software for layer 1 for transport, and Linux and DSP/OS type expertise are very important to us.”
Georges Karam is CEO of Sequans, which makes connectivity chipsets for wireless infrastructure. He said his company has hired some software talent directly from its customers, including Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson and Huawei. “The complexity for us is we need software people but we need them to understand communications at the same time, not just applications,” said Karam, who added that experience with digital subscriber line is key, and that even engineers who do not know wireless can be valuable to Sequans if they have DSL experience.
Strong software skills are often not enough to land a job in mobile chip development; most companies are looking for engineers with embedded platform experience. Richard Narjarian, who directs Broadcom’s global navigation satellite system chip business, said his typical hire has a master’s degree in computer science as well as four to five years work experience, knowledge of C, C++, and Linux or Android. “We tend to hire are people with good embedded software skills,” said Narjarian. “So that’s guys who are experienced in developing primarily C and C code language and embedding that and writing code that runs on embedded platforms.”
“We need people who can make the link between the hardware on the chip and the software,” echoed Sequans’ Karam. “Those skills are not so frequent. You don’t get out of school with those. You build it based on your experience in a given company.”
That company may be a customer. Sequans has had good luck hiring developers from mobile infrastructure companies, and Freescale has been able to pick up new hires as the mobile device business has consolidated. “If you look at the consolidation of the handset business there is a fair amount of talent, and it’s kind of a source for us,” said Scott Aylor, general manager of Freescale’s wireless access division. “That’s an industry statement, not just a Freescale statement.”
Of course the mobile chip business has also seen its share of consolidation, with many players focusing on a specific area of expertise and abandoning other business lines. Texas Instruments has exited the mobile device chip business, Renesas will no longer make handset modems, and ST-Ericsson is dissolving, having already abandoned its stand-alone processor business and turned its integrated modem business over to Ericsson.
“A number of companies have signaled that they are going to exit the connectivity space so we’ve picked up some engineers from that route,” said Broadcom’s Narjarian. But for successful mobile chipmakers, the need for qualified software engineers may be growing faster than the pool of available talent. Broadcom’s Terri Timberman sees the competition intensifying and says that “The battle to get the best, most qualified employees continues to grow.”
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