[Peace&Chips] "We will give a work visa without question. If you are a semiconductor talent"

By 2031, Over 300,000 Workers Needed
Semiconductor Workforce Shortages Deepen in US, China, and Other Countries
"Active Efforts Needed to Attract Overseas Talent"

Editor's NoteSemiconductors, often called the rice of modern industry. Although it's a term we hear every day, it's hard to explain when asked. Peace & Chips will make the complex concepts and overall trends of the semiconductor industry easy to digest. Just bring your spoon.

The key driving force behind the continuous growth of the semiconductor industry is 'talent.' In highly concentrated advanced industries, technological innovation directly translates into competitiveness, and excellent talent is essential for this. It is often said that "the level of core engineers determines the technology of the company."

As the semiconductor industry grows rapidly in Korea, the demand for skilled personnel is also increasing quickly. As a result, you can easily see companies striving to attract talent. The domestic semiconductor leaders, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, are competing by raising salaries and expanding welfare benefits.

However, despite industry efforts, the manpower shortage is worsening. The Korea Semiconductor Industry Association projected that the domestic semiconductor workforce will increase from 127,000 in 2021 to 304,000 by 2031. This represents an average annual growth rate of 5.6%, meaning an additional 127,000 workers will be needed in the future.

Given this situation, not only the industry but also the government has recently taken active steps, such as increasing enrollment quotas for semiconductor-related departments and establishing contract departments. Nevertheless, statements expressing a sense of crisis continue to emerge. The manpower shortage is a frequent topic at various seminars and conferences forecasting the semiconductor industry's outlook.

Professor Kwon Seok-jun of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Polymer Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University participated in the Choi Jong-hyun Academy seminar last week and said, "The number of PhD holders has almost reached its peak and is expected to decline over the next 5 to 10 years," attributing this to "a decrease in birth rates, population decline, and reduced preference for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) majors among students."

Of course, this issue is not unique to Korea. As countries such as the United States, China, Taiwan, and Europe develop semiconductors as a national core industry, the manpower shortage is becoming a global issue. Although each country is expanding subsidy policies and creating clusters, cries of labor shortages are erupting worldwide.

Inside view of Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek Campus factory / Photo by Samsung Electronics

In fact, a recent claim in the United States stated that 500,000 to 600,000 workers will be needed domestically by 2030. In China, it is estimated that the semiconductor workforce demand could reach 220,000 by next year. This is why securing semiconductor talent is inevitably expanding from a corporate-level competition to a national-level competition.

The domestic industry views attracting overseas talent as a solution to this situation. Rather than relying solely on domestic talent, the idea is to actively secure the insufficient workforce from abroad. Recently, Taiwan announced that it would grant work visas without question or hesitation to those who graduate from the world's top 500 universities and wish to work at local semiconductor companies.

Some suggest providing scholarships to outstanding overseas talent, training them, and then requiring them to work for domestic semiconductor companies for a certain period. This could also be an opportunity for domestic engineers to communicate with them on-site and acquire global capabilities. Isn't it time to seriously consider attracting overseas talent?

This article is from [Peace & Chips], published weekly by Asia Economy. Click subscribe to receive articles for free.

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