The war for talent has gotten worse over the years. A shrinking talent pool combined with the Covid-19 pandemic has led to increasing desperation for skilled employees. This is particularly true for the semiconductor industry, which is craving for new, skilled talent in order to meet the exponentially growling demand for chips and microelectronics.
The issue has gotten so severe that if you have plenty of experience or qualifications within the microelectronics in Taiwan, you don’t go looking for a job; the job finds you. Taiwan is the world’s center of advanced chipmaking, and the distinct shortage of relevant manpower is certainly taking a toll as demand for semiconductors continues to skyrocket.
The current talent shortage is the most serious the world has ever seen. And many expect it to get worse. Taiwan’s semiconductor industry boasted more than 290,000 employees as of the end of 2021, in a population of 23.4 million. That is up from 225,000 just two years earlier in 2019, according to the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, and the expansion looks set to continue apace.
According to Nikkei Asia, the two biggest Taiwanese chipmakers, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and MediaTek are hiring a total of more than 10,000 employees this year alone, most of whom will come from within Taiwan itself.
Currently, over 2,000 chipmaking jobs are open in Taiwan. Some of the companies who are actively looking for new talent include US chipmakers Micron, Intel, Qualcomm, Nvidia, and AMD, as well as top Taiwan-based chip developers like Novatek, Realtek, and Phison Electronics.
It is not just the big companies who are eager to secure fresh members. SMEs within the semiconductor industry are also in desperate need for talent. Openings range from crucial chip development jobs to positions working on manufacturing processes, data analysis, and more.
The massive hiring spree of the semiconductor industry is also causing some dismay across other industries, particularly in Taiwan. With the industry desperately grabbing at any talent that they can, businesses within other electronics industries are also having a hard time with their recruitment efforts.
