"Fostering Semiconductor SME Specialists"... Ministry of SMEs and Startups Calls for Host Institutions for 'Technical Cadets and SME Contract Departments'

Recruiting 2-3 New Technical Officer and SME Contract Departments Each
3 Billion KRW Annual Education Support for Technical Officer Colleges
35 Million KRW per Semester for 3 Years for SME Contract Departments
"Continuously Expanding Workforce Training Programs for SME Professionals"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Minjae] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 23rd that it will newly recruit 'Technical Officer' project groups and universities in charge of 'SME Contract Departments.' This is a follow-up measure to the 'Semiconductor Talent Development Plan' announced by the government last July, aimed at nurturing and expanding the supply of specialized personnel for small and medium-sized enterprises in the semiconductor industry sector.

The Ministry plans to promptly select and support 2 to 3 SME Contract Departments and Technical Officer project groups each, exclusively for the semiconductor industry sector, targeting an opening in March next year. Although recruitment announcements for new host institutions are usually made at the end of the year, the Ministry explained that this decision was made considering the importance and urgency of semiconductor industry workforce development.

While the Technical Officer project is a program that trains and supplies new technical personnel at the industrial engineer level, the SME Contract Departments focus on re-educating current employees to develop them into core talents such as (professional) bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree holders.

The Technical Officer program systematically trains technical personnel for SMEs through a linked 4-year education consisting of 2 years at specialized high schools and 2 years at junior colleges. The SME Contract Departments open 2-year degree programs at universities ranging from professional associate degrees to doctorates, supporting specialized education and degree acquisition for SME employees (or prospective hires) through a work-first-then-study approach.

Newly selected junior colleges for the Technical Officer project will receive approximately 300 million KRW annually for educational expenses such as material and practice costs. Technical Officer students will be supported with benefits such as certification acquisition and preferential recommendation for industrial technical personnel. For students in the SME Contract Departments, partial tuition fees (65-100%) required for degree acquisition will be supported. Host universities will receive 35 million KRW per semester for operating costs of the contract departments for three years.

The recruitment period for Technical Officer project groups and universities in charge of SME Contract Departments is from the 24th of this month to the 23rd of next month. Applications can be submitted through the Comprehensive Management System for SME Workforce Support Projects.

Jung Sunwook, Director of Workforce Development at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "As the workforce difficulties in the semiconductor industry have intensified, we will promptly proceed with the establishment of Technical Officer and SME Contract Departments to accelerate the 'development of semiconductor-related talent.' We will continue to expand SME workforce development programs such as SME Contract Departments and Technical Officers to nurture specialized personnel for SMEs."

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