Hi all,
I noticed in the last week a couple of posts about IC Design in the US were met with comments about a changing industry.
A lot of people here said that in the US a PhD is becoming a minimum requirement to do design, and people with an MS are really only able to get jobs doing validation.
Is that the case? are jobs in IC design becoming more scarce due to this high level of qualification required? are there IC design jobs that are leaving the US to China or other countries with cheaper labor?
Is it also true that its mainly the big companies that are doing IC design? I guess the constant consolidation is destroying the small firms doing IC design.
Personally I ask these questions because I'm planning in going back for my masters, and I had been considering doing microelectronics. I'm now thinking that I may be better off doing signals and communications and getting experience with FPGAs.