Cardiff University Report Finds Welsh Semiconductor Jobs Rose 14% in 2025

Wales’s compound-semiconductor sector supported 3,140 jobs in 2025, up from 2,748 a year earlier, according to an independent Cardiff University report for industry group CSconnected. The increase offers a fresh measure of an industry clustered around Newport as AI data centers raise demand for computing hardware.

The sector-wide total is distinct from direct employment. The report counted 1,914 direct jobs in the compound-semiconductor industry, concentrated around Newport and the wider M4 corridor, and put average sector salaries at about £66,000.

2,748Supported jobs

The report found a 14% increase in jobs supported by Wales’s compound-semiconductor sector from 2024 to 2025.

AI demand reaches the hardware layer

IQE says its chips form part of the physical architecture of AI data centers. They sit in the computer hardware that underpins AI operations, rather than in the chatbot algorithms people interact with. That distinction puts the Newport company in the supply chain behind AI services without making it a model developer.

For IQE, that connection has become a company-specific hiring story. Chief executive Jutta Meier said the company is growing jobs connected to and supporting AI. IQE says it began hiring more staff after investors recognized its role in data-center computing power.

A local pipeline for a growing cluster

Bassaleg School in Newport offers students a semiconductor qualification, described as one of the first such offerings in the UK. The course gives students a route into an industry operating close to their school.

UK AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said the semiconductor cluster was paying 40% to 50% more than many local sectors. He also argued that Wales should use its manufacturing heritage to create AI-related manufacturing jobs while supporting people affected by technological change.

The report records growth in a hardware workforce, while the minister’s warning points to a wider test for the region. New AI-linked factory jobs may be valuable, but job creation does not remove the need to help people whose work changes elsewhere.