While the semiconductor industry in Malaysia is booming, it currently faces a severe shortage of talent, with the government saying it needs 50,000 skilled engineers. Malaysian universities are producing only about 5,000 engineers annually. Industry players are working closely with the government and universities to plug this talent gap. One potential solution they have found is tailoring courses to the needs of the sector. There are currently about 650,000 engineers in Malaysia, with a majority – almost 600,000 – working in the electrical and electronics products sector.
Mr Chen-Jiang Phua, managing director of AT&S (Malaysia), told CNA: “I’ve never seen the talent shortage as serious as (in) these few years, especially in the semiconductor, in the high-tech manufacturing (sectors). “There are many investments not only in Malaysia, but also all over the world as we can see, so there is obviously a talent war out there and you have to do things differently,” he added. Mr Phua noted that jobseekers look at potential growth opportunities, company culture, leadership and management, as well as what products the company is involved in. To address the issue of brain drain, he said that employers have to offer competitive packages and train the young generation to master processes.
In the meantime, the country’s national semiconductor strategic taskforce is looking to allow foreign graduates to work in the industry to meet growing demand.
Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association president Wong Siew Hai said his organisation has developed a programme in a bid to solve the shortage of engineers. He similarly described the situation as a war on talent. “I call it the war on talent because everybody is short on talent and they are here looking for talent, they are everywhere all over the world,” he told CNA.
Multinational corporations in Malaysia are also being encouraged to train young engineers. As part of labour market reforms, the government launched the Academy in Industry programme last year, subsidising training for school leavers to meet industry needs. It hopes tech giants will come on board. United States chip giant Intel, which set up its first international manufacturing plant in Penang 50 years ago, is investing US$7 billion to expand its operations there. Its new advanced packaging facility is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year. It will create about 4,000 high-paying jobs at the company’s first overseas facility for advanced 3D chip packaging.
Under the New Industrial Masterplan 2030, the country is also aiming to create 700,000 high-paying jobs.
CNA
