Sung Yun-mo: "48,000 Semiconductor Personnel Trained Over 2 Years... Considering Enactment of Special Law"

Ministry of Industry Holds Meeting on Semiconductor Workforce Development

Sung Yun-mo, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy. (File photo)
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] Sung Yoon-mo, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, announced on the 14th, "Starting this year, we will implement a customized semiconductor workforce development policy for two years to produce more than 4,800 diverse talents in total."

At a meeting held at the Seoul National University Semiconductor Joint Research Center on the same day, Minister Sung said, "As of 2019, the semiconductor industry technology workforce is about 36,000, and it is necessary to secure 1,500 people annually over the next 10 years."

At this meeting, the current status of workforce shortages in the semiconductor industry and difficulties faced in semiconductor talent development sites were shared, and discussions were held on solutions to foster excellent semiconductor talent and resolve workforce shortages.

At the event, Minister Sung Yoon-mo emphasized, "Securing core semiconductor personnel is crucial to maintaining Korea's super-gap, responding to increasing design and process complexity, and establishing a stable global semiconductor supply chain," adding, "The government will spare no policy support to ensure that excellent talent is supplied both qualitatively and quantitatively to the domestic semiconductor industry."

So far, since the announcement of the 'System Semiconductor Vision and Strategy' in 2019, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has nurtured more than 1,000 talents through large-scale public-private joint workforce projects. Furthermore, the ministry plans to produce more than 4,800 diverse talents this year and next through customized workforce development policies targeting bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and practical personnel.

Specifically, a system semiconductor design major track supporting a specialized system semiconductor design course for third-year undergraduates will be newly established next year. Graduates of the design major track will be trained to be ready for practical work without additional education upon employment in fabless companies, and the Semiconductor Industry Association will support recruitment connections with fabless companies. To nurture a total of 3,000 master's and doctoral level personnel over the next 10 years, a public-private joint project will be promoted involving joint investment in ▲core technology research and development (R&D) ▲advanced workforce training ▲and recruitment inducement. Specialized design experts for next-generation industries such as future vehicles, energy, and bio will be cultivated, and the training of experts for key promising items such as power semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors will also be expanded.

Minister Sung stated, "We will spare no policy support to ensure that excellent talent is supplied both qualitatively and quantitatively to the domestic semiconductor industry," and added, "Considering the conditions of the domestic and international semiconductor industries and legislative trends in other countries, we will also review the enactment of a Semiconductor Special Act."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.