Taiwan’s semiconductor industry continues to be plagued by hiring challenges, with educational requirements and working conditions driving away the talent necessary for growth in a highly specialized industry.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), by far the biggest player in the sector, has long been aware of these constraints.
In 2019, TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) said that the biggest challenge facing the domestic semiconductor industry is a lack of talent.
Photo: Grace Hung, Taipei Times
The industry primarily cites limited academic research funding for the shortage, which deters academics from conducting advanced research and, in turn, reduces student numbers.
In July, MediaTek chairman Tsai Ming-kai (蔡明介) conducted a media campaign to call attention to the problem, saying the talent shortage is “rocking the nation to its core” by damaging international competitiveness.
Sunplus Technology vice president Wayne Shen (沈文義) blames the nation’s declining birthrate for the dwindling number of students in the fields of science and engineering, as well as poor working conditions.
Semiconductors are seen as a so-called “liver-destroying industry” (爆肝產業), he said, a slang term coined by gamers for playing to the point of collapse.
This reputation has trickled down to schools, whose electrical engineering and electronics majors have taken a hit regarding student numbers, especially when compared with the early days of the industry, he said.
Add to this Chinese poaching, and talent is hard to come by, he said.
Even with annual salaries starting in the millions of New Taiwan dollars, long working hours and intense pressure have made young people reluctant to sign up.
The spouse of one research engineer working at a large IC designer minced no words when describing her husband’s schedule, which often keeps him at the factory for at least 10 hours at a time.
When things need to be rushed, it is also not unusual for him to work until midnight or bring his computer home to keep working, she added.
Researchers are not the only ones subject to less-than-ideal conditions, with fab technicians also complaining of 12-hour shifts wearing full-body “bunny suits” to work in cleanrooms.
As they are difficult to remove, many technicians put off taking bathroom breaks, leading to a number of health issues.
The head of a hospital urology division in southern Taiwan confirmed the problem, saying that most of the people who come seeking treatment work at the Southern Taiwan Science Park.
Shen also expects challenges to long-term development exacerbated by waning interest in studying advanced degrees.
Spending another five years studying a doctorate is an investment many young people are not willing to make considering its low returns, as decent jobs are available for master’s degree holders, Shen said.
However, industry development is predicated on specialized research, without which “the industry may not have a future,” he said.
Yet there has been movement by schools to make up for the disparity, with numerous universities opening semiconductor-focused schools this year alone, said Edward Chang (張翼), dean of the International College of Semiconductor Technology at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU).
He attributed the change to TSMC lobbying about the need for more talent, which gained the attention of the government and led to the creation of the college.
Educational reform could be approached from three angles: loosening requirements to accept students from other fields, supporting doctorate students and recruiting international talent, he said.
For the first strategy, Chang recommended that semiconductor institutes consider applicants from other scientific disciplines and create customized curricula based on each student’s background.
From his own experience, Chang said that many top students after attaining a master’s degree are not willing to continue on to a doctorate, as “studying hard science is too taxing.”
Aside from wanting to start making money as soon as possible, Chang also blames the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) for luring away promising students.
AI is a field in which it is easy to start a business, he said.
In contrast, “it is hard to be your own boss in semiconductors,” he added.
Yet unlike AI, semiconductor manufacturing requires people with advanced degrees to keep abreast of the industry, Chang said.
Despite these challenges, Taiwanse firms are reluctant to give up their semiconductor dominance any time soon.
TSMC last year started a doctorate scholarship program offering NT$500,000 annually for up to five years of study, with mentorship and internship opportunities.
After graduating, recipients are welcome to either start working in the industry or remain in academia to conduct research and teach.
MediaTek also offers its own doctoral scholarship and is building innovation centers to make it easier for students to conduct research.
“Taiwan is competing with the world” to develop increasingly advanced semiconductor technology, Chang said, adding that it is not enough to rely solely on domestic talent.
Taking this to heart, the semiconductor college at NYCU is working to recruit international students.
After signing cooperative agreements with four branches of the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, Kanpur, Mumbai and Delhi, the school expects to soon welcome 100 international students, he said.
While admitting there has been some blowback among those who fear Taiwanese could be crowded out of a lucrative market, Chang said that as far as schools are concerned, conditions in Taiwan are not the most attractive to international students, as scholarships are less generous.
That is not to mention that countries around the world are all competing for the top talent, he said.
“Not wanting to recruit talent is one thing, but it is another thing entirely to lose out on local talent to others,” he said.
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