Although the Ministry of SMEs and Startups Budget Was Greatly Reduced... 'Semiconductor' Workforce Budget Is the 'Largest Ever'

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Min-jae] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups' budget for next year has been set at 13.5619 trillion won, a 28% reduction compared to this year's budget. However, the budget for semiconductor workforce development (SME contract departments and technical officers) has increased to an all-time high. This is analyzed as reflecting the importance and urgency of nurturing talent in the semiconductor industry.

According to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups on the 31st, the budget for technical officers, who train on-site technical personnel for SMEs through specialized high schools and junior colleges, has been set at 4.8 billion won, a 50% increase from the previous year (3.2 billion won). The budget for SME contract departments, which re-educate SME employees, has also been set at 14.5 billion won, a 9% increase from the previous year (13.3 billion won). These are the largest increases since the ministry started these programs in 2009.

Earlier, on the 23rd, following the government's announcement of the 'Semiconductor Talent Development Plan,' the Ministry of SMEs and Startups newly recruited technical officer project groups and universities in charge of SME contract departments to nurture and expand the supply of specialized personnel in the semiconductor industry. The technical officer program is a project that systematically trains technical personnel for SMEs through a linked 4-year education program: 2 years at specialized high schools and 2 years at junior colleges. The SME contract department opens 2-year degree programs at universities ranging from associate to doctoral levels, supporting professional education and degree acquisition for SME employees (or prospective hires) through a work-first-then-study approach.

With the increase in related budgets, the number of newly established technical officer project groups and universities in charge of SME contract departments is expected to continue expanding. According to the ministry, including the two semiconductor project groups newly recruited this year, the number of technical officer groups will expand to five by 2023. Including the two system semiconductor contract departments recruited this year, the number of SME contract departments will also increase by five by 2023. Newly selected junior colleges for technical officer project groups can receive about 300 million won annually for educational expenses such as material and practice costs. Technical officer students receive support for certification acquisition and preferential recommendations for industrial technical personnel. Additionally, SME contract department students can receive partial tuition support (65-100%) for degree acquisition, and the universities in charge receive 35 million won per semester for operating costs for three years.

Meanwhile, the 28% reduction in the ministry's budget is analyzed to be influenced by the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's 'sound fiscal' policy. The temporary increase of about 4.9 trillion won, which was paid to small business owners and self-employed individuals affected by 'social distancing,' has been removed from the budget, and reductions in the SME mother fund and smart factory-related budgets also contributed to the budget cut. Next year's budget plan is largely composed of ▲venture and startup promotion (1.945 trillion won) ▲SME scale-up and innovation growth (7.441 trillion won) ▲recovery and leap of small business owners and self-employed (4.1759 trillion won).

A ministry official stated, "As the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' budget for semiconductor workforce development has increased, we will continue to expand the technical officer program that trains new on-site personnel and the SME contract departments that develop the capabilities of current employees, striving to contribute to nurturing core semiconductor talent needed in the field."

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