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THE rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) will drive the market value of the global semiconductor industry to a staggering US$1 trillion by 2030, doubling its market size.

To support this rapid growth – 16 per cent in 2024 and another 12 per cent next year – the industry will require a huge increase in both production capacity and talent.

“Currently, the number of factories being built or already in operation is sufficient to meet demand. But challenges remain. The primary issue is a shortage of talent, and the world is urgently working to cultivate skilled professionals,” said Watanabe Kiyoshi, executive director of the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan.

Geopolitical tensions and supply chain security have made the semiconductor industry an indicator of national strength. As countries strive to become self-sufficient in semiconductor supply, the competition for chip industry talent has intensified.

Surge in demand

In the United States, the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act prompted leading chipmakers including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), Samsung Electronics, Intel, Micron Technology and SK Hynix, to build new factories, driving a surge in demand for the technicians and engineers needed to run them.

In July 2023, the Semiconductor Industry Association projected that 115,000 jobs in America’s chip industry would be created by 2030, but warned that US universities would be unable to meet the demand. Without intervention, up to 67,000 positions could remain unfilled, it added.

China is also grappling with a talent shortage. A report by Arm China and Beyond Consulting showed that in 2022, the demand for talent in the integrated circuit (IC) sector was around 199,300 people, while the supply was only 164,300.

“Talent scarcity continues to be one of the key challenges facing China’s semiconductor industry,” said Zhang Jie, executive dean of the School of Integrated Circuit at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT).

Countries such as Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Brazil, which are trying to establish semiconductor hubs, are also eager to attract technicians and engineers.

In February, Malaysia’s Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Zafrul Aziz called for measures to bring more foreign talent into the country.

He pointed out that while Malaysian universities can produce only 5,000 engineers a year, the electrical and electronics sector urgently needs about 10 times that number.

Collaboration between the industry and educational facilities has become a critical strategy for developing talent.

The US Chips Act, for example, allocates US$13.2 billion for technology research and workforce training. Companies such as Intel and TSMC are teaming up with universities to provide more specific and targeted courses for latent training. 

The future role of higher education will focus on meeting specific needs in learning, education and technological competitiveness, with interdisciplinary training of top innovators and engineers becoming the norm, Zhang said.

At the same time, the semiconductor sector faces stiff competition for skilled workers from industries such as the Internet, software and finance.

Its heavy workloads, exposure to geopolitical risks, and comparatively lower pay make it less attractive to young workers.

Broadening race

As Chinese chip companies increasingly look to Malaysia for expansion overseas, partly as a result of increasing trade tensions with the US, the search for skilled employees in the South-east Asian country has intensified.

“The competition is fierce,” a front-end chip designer at a US company in Penang told Caixin. Since mid-2021, the region has seen a surge in demand for semiconductor professionals, especially in specialised fields such as physical and front-end design, he said.

While well-established companies such as Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Infineon Technologies initially led the charge, the talent race has broadened as Malaysia prioritises IC design, drawing in a growing number of emerging firms, including several Chinese chip design companies.

Chinese firms often offer higher salaries than their American counterparts. According to the chip designer, engineers with more than 10 years’ experience can earn about RM10,000 (S$3,030) a month at US firms, while Chinese companies may offer annual salaries exceeding RM200,000.

Despite the attractive wages, many of his peers still choose to work for US companies, giving cultural factors as the main reason.

Recruitment challenges persist across the region. The founder of a Singaporean industrial automation startup told Caixin that talent shortages and high employee turnover make hiring in Malaysia particularly difficult.

Wang Zhengfu, general manager of StarFive Technology, said that the problem of Malaysia’s limited pool of senior semiconductor engineers has been made worse by the growing presence of US and Chinese companies in recent years.

Companies now focus on retaining employees by enhancing their brand appeal and providing opportunities for development as well as competitive salaries. They also maintain close ties with universities to attract fresh graduates, to strengthen their talent pipeline.

First- and second-year students are now targeted.

Shahrel Azmin Suandi, dean of the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Universiti Sains Malaysia, said that Intel now selects promising students as early as their first semester, with the company offering scholarships to cover tuition fees and a monthly stipend of RM1,000.

Shenzhen Semiconductor Industry Association chairman Wu Zheng said that while Malaysia has an abundant supply of packaging and testing talent, there is a shortage of chip designers.

Addressing this gap will take time, he said, but the process can be gradually overcome by building a more complete industry chain. Initially, companies expanding into Malaysia will probably bring their own expertise from China and localise employment over time.

StarFive’s Wang said that the semiconductor industry was in talks with the Malaysian government to relax work visa policies and other regulations to allow more foreign professionals to work in the country.

Similar recruitment problems exist in neighbouring countries such as Singapore, Vietnam, India and Indonesia. Singapore, in particular, offers more attractive salaries and benefits, contributing to a significant outflow of skilled professionals from Malaysia. For example, the average monthly salary for IC design in Singapore is about US$4,000, three and a half times higher than in Penang.

Jaffri Ibrahim, chief executive of the Engineering, Science, and Technology Cooperation Research Centre in Malaysia, outlined several challenges facing the chip industry, including a talent shortage, skill gap, brain drain and the pressure for continuous innovation.

In response, the Malaysian government has launched the National Semiconductor Strategy, committing over RM25 billion to drive growth in the local chip industry and attract foreign tech companies through targeted incentives.

One initiative is to train 60,000 local semiconductor engineers and foster closer links between universities and business.

Backing this effort, the Ministry of Higher Education has introduced the Research and Industry-Infused Incubation programme involving 19 public universities and 27 companies with the aim of creating more than 500 positions. Universities are also adapting their curricula to better meet industry demands.

Shahrel said that the biggest challenge is the growing disinterest among young people in pursuing a career in chip manufacturing. Local semiconductor firms struggle to attract recruits because of the demanding nature of the work.

Social media also influences young people’s career choices, with many aspiring to more glamorous roles in companies led by high-profile figures such as Elon Musk, according to ET Tan, the former CEO of the Penang Skills Development Centre.

Distinct advantages

“Over years of global specialisation in the semiconductor industry, different regions have developed distinct talent advantages,” said Meng Wei, a partner in WI Capital. 

America boasts a strong talent pool in semiconductor design and equipment materials, while Europe excels in analog chip design and manufacturing. Taiwan and South Korea are leaders in semiconductor manufacturing, and Japan, with a more balanced approach, has expertise across design, manufacturing and equipment materials.

Meanwhile, China, with its large pool of science and engineering graduates, has significant potential, but still needs time to close the experience gap and enhance practical skills, said Meng.

As countries work to build complete local industry chains, the mobility of semiconductor expertise has increased. The key challenge, according to Meng, is determining which regions can effectively consolidate their industry chains and create a self-sustaining cycle of growth.

Xia Guigen, a senior semiconductor talent consultant, said that Europe, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and elsewhere face an ageing workforce and a shortage of younger recruits, particularly those interested in semiconductor careers.

By contrast, China has built a sizable talent pool over the past two decades, fuelled by government policies that have driven rapid growth in the sector.

The semiconductor industry’s growth in China was accelerated by the sanctions imposed on telecom giants ZTE and Huawei that started in 2019, which raised concerns about chip supply security.

This, combined with the global semiconductor shortage during the pandemic, spurred calls for greater self-sufficiency. With government support and increased capital investment, semiconductor projects quickly proliferated across China, increasing demand for skilled talent, and significantly raising salaries.

According to the report by Arm China and Beyond Consulting, as at May 2023, some 25 Chinese universities had launched doctoral programmes in “integrated circuit science and engineering”.

More than 20 institutions have established dedicated IC departments, and more than nine universities are building or planning to build microelectronics schools.

In 2022, nearly 32,800 graduates in semiconductor-related fields emerged from major Chinese universities, with over 10,000 achieving undergraduate and master’s degrees.

A senior recruiter told Caixin how successful these industry-academia partnerships had been in supplying talent. Many Internet and software professionals have been attracted by high salaries, and a significant number of overseas experts have returned to China to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities.

The industry still faces a structural talent shortage, however, particularly at the mid-to-senior and senior levels.

Zhang from BUPT said that the Chinese semiconductor sector was grappling with a shortage of talent in high-level strategic roles and positions that require advanced engineering expertise or international experience.

In recent years, the flow of capital into the semiconductor industry inflated labour costs, with digital chip designers of five to 10 years’ experience commanding salaries of up to one million yuan (S$184,840). This led to an influx of talent from other industries.

Due to the economic slowdown and declining demand, many chip companies, including Intel and AMD, started laying off staff, however, creating a false sense of oversupply. In reality, top-tier talent remains scarce, said Xia.

It takes more than a decade for a junior engineer to become a technical expert, with extensive hands-on experience in production lines. This long and demanding path often discourages some promising individuals, underlining the fact that true semiconductor talent requires years of experience and cannot be developed rapidly, Xia added. CAIXIN GLOBAL