02/06/2024
Facing the high demand for human resources in Vietnam's semiconductor industry, experts are raising concern about the reality of satisfying the labor force and solutions to seize and take advantage of the opportunities.
The information was shared at the workshop “Orientation of Technology and Science Research and Human Resource Development in Semiconductor Chip Industry in Vietnam” organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology in collaboration with Hanoi University of Science and Technology.
According to Associate Professor, Doctor Truong Viet Anh, Head of the Department of Science and Technology at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Vietnam's semiconductor industry needs 10,000 engineers annually. "The shortage of human resources becomes an opportunity that can be taken advantage of," he said.
However, Mr. Anh also admitted the challenges, which are that the market demand changes in short and rapid periods. Competition and investment in science and technology are still limited; machine and software are expensive, hardware engineer education costs are high, and students prefer to choose software majors.
However, Mr. Anh also acknowledges the challenges. including the rapidly and periodically changing market demand; the high level of competition, and the small-scale investment in science and technology; expensive software and equipment; high training costs for hardware engineers, and the preference of students for software majors.
According to Vietnam’s Minister of Science and Technology Huynh Thanh Dat, Vietnam is well-positioned to develop its semiconductor ecosystem. Vietnam has attracted a great number of large corporations in the semiconductor chip industry such as the US, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the Netherlands, with over 40 companies. Moreover, many domestic companies have also entered the market. Accordingly, Vietnam has the potential to play a more significant role in the global semiconductor supply chain.
Dr. Nguyen Cao Qui, a lecturer at Can Tho University, specializing in Electronic Engineering and IC design, said that after 20 years of working, Dr. Qui has noticed that investment in the development of the IC design industry needs attention and a large resource allocation because teaching software for IC design is very expensive (some software costs 1 million USD/year).
This is also one of the many reasons why it is difficult to develop the field of IC design. Therefore, in order to develop human resources in the IC design industry, we need to pay more attention to the implementing training plans.
To help students access and understand more about this field, Pacific College will plan to research and introduce semiconductor materials to students. This initiative aims to expand more job opportunities for students after graduation and contributes to improving the quality of workforce for the region.
