Quantum workforce isn’t meeting demand, federal officials tell lawmakers

U.S. government officials pointed to quantum talent pipeline constraints at a Thursday House hearing as lawmakers mull reauthorization of the National Quantum Initiative.

“We are in a workforce shortage — plain and simple,” James Kushmerick, director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Physical Measurement Laboratory said in response to a question from Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Ore., during the Committee on Science Space and Technology hearing.

Salinas specifically asked what each of the panelists were doing to recruit and retain quantum talent across the U.S. and across demographics, particularly given the Trump administration’s elimination of diversity initiatives. 

“We do not have enough domestic or even international talent to fill all the jobs,” Kushmerick said. “So at NIST, we look to hire … where we can. We look across the whole country, and we also welcome in foreign guest researchers when needed to help support this effort.” 

The hearing was intended to get input on the House’s work on a bipartisan reauthorization of the National Quantum Initiative, which lapsed in September 2023. During his opening remarks, Chair Brian Babin, R-Texas, said that he and ranking member Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., were working on a reauthorization of the initiative. Their efforts come as a bipartisan group of Senate lawmakers released the text of their proposed reauthorization earlier this month.

While panelists generally weren’t prescriptive with their comments about a reauthorization, they did highlight how the NQI had aided past work at their respective agencies and discussed some areas of difficulty, including workforce. 

Saul Gonzalez, deputy directorate head at the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, said in his opening remarks that the science research agency’s existing efforts have nearly doubled the number of students and faculty working on quantum information science since 2018, “and still, the supply of talent is not keeping up with industry’s demand.”

Tanner Crowder, quantum information science lead in the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, said training is key to reducing the talent gap.

“We, bar none, just need to train more people across the talent spectrum — senior scientists, technicians, junior scientists — and make sure that we are able to place these people in good jobs once they actually get trained,” Crowder said in response to a question from Rep. Valerie Foushee, D-N.C. 

The officials’ comments follow recent data from the federal government-backed Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C) that suggests the quantum jobs market in North America and Europe shrunk slightly, while the rest of the world experienced gains in the preceding 12-month period. 

QED-C is a group of companies, universities and other stakeholders in the quantum space and was established as part of the initial National Quantum Initiative. That consortium has also polled its members on how to bridge the workforce gap.

At the hearing, Kushmerick said that work by the consortium has shown that it’s also not just quantum physicists leading efforts; it includes engineers, technicians, and people at other levels as well. 

“I really think we need a whole-of-government effort to kind of increase the pipeline,” Kushmerick said in response to a question from Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore. That includes certificates, degrees and other activities, he said.

Many of the workforce questions came from committee Democrats, who also criticized the administration’s proposed cuts to science agencies, reduction of the federal workforce and cancellation of grants across the government. But Babin also acknowledged the workforce issues in his opening remarks.

“Like many emerging technology sectors, the quantum industry faces a growing demand for skilled talent,” Babin said.

Babin said that NSF and DOE’s quantum centers, which were established under the quantum initiative, “have made significant strides in developing educational programs, training initiatives and industry partnerships to help meet workforce needs.” 

At the same time, Babin said, those “efforts depend on sustained federal support.”