Talent Deficit In Semiconductor Industry
There is a great emphasis on localising semiconductors the world over amidst the wafer shortage crisis hitting the supply-side of the business hard. The industry, it is learnt, despite demand in select segments, is not in a position to meet its obligations with the waiting timelines having to be extended. Some might say, it is not the best time for a purchase. With this backdrop, a recent ‘104 Bank Job Survey’ on talent shortage in the semiconductor industry has come out with interesting statistics. As per the survey, the semiconductor industry faced a shortage of 34,000 people per month. In a case study, Taiwanese market faced its most severe shortage in the fourth quarter in about seven years. As per the survey,
October-December, 2021, due the shortage of people, there were 3.7 offers per job seekers in December 2021, compared to 2.6 offers in December 2020. The number was 2.3 a year ago (December 2019). In comparison, across all job sectors, the offers stood at 1.7 per job application, up from 1.3 offers in December 2020 and 1.1 per applicant in December 2019. This is despite, the market, in comparison to India, having dedicated semiconductor institutes such as the National Taiwan University, National TSing Hua University, and National Cheng Kung University. Notably remote learning since the emergence of Covid19 has also seen an increase in demand for electronic devices, among emerging technologies like electric vehicles, 5G applications and artificial intelligence. In other regions, Netherlands is looking to hire 4000 people worldwide including 1000 from Taiwan alone. US based companies are also looking at Taiwan to plug the void. As per HR consultancy Intelligent Manpower Corp, the annual wages of graduates from top schools has also seen a sharp rise from NTD 1.6 mn to NTD 2 mn (USD 57,554 to USD 71,762) which represents a one-third rise compared to pre-Covid19 levels. Taiwan is expected to witness a 17.7 per cent hike in total out, from NTD 4.08 mn to NTD 4.80 mn. The global semiconductor industry is expected to witness a 8.8 per cent hike in output.