27-5-2024 (KUALA LUMPUR) In a talent battlefield raging across Malaysia’s thriving semiconductor sector, sought-after engineers like Azzuani Abdul Aziz are fielding multiple job offers within mere months of joining manufacturers. The 35-year-old Malaysian process engineer’s decade of experience in the high-tech front-end arena, where one in four employees are women, renders her skills a hot commodity.
Malaysia has ascended to become the world’s sixth-largest semiconductor exporter, fuelled by a global industry projected to be worth a trillion pounds by 2030. However, this booming success currently faces a dire skilled labour shortage, with the government stating a need for 50,000 engineers that universities are producing just 5,000 of annually.
Industry titans are collaborating with government and academia to plug this yawning talent gap. One solution emerging is tailoring university courses to align with sector demands. Currently, nearly 600,000 of Malaysia’s 650,000 engineers work in electrical and electronic product manufacturing.
“I’ve never seen the talent shortage as serious as these few years, especially in semiconductor and high-tech manufacturing. With global investment pouring in, there’s obviously a talent war raging, so you have to do things differently,” Chen-Jiang Phua, Managing Director of Austrian semiconductor giant AT&S’s Malaysian operations.
Phua highlighted that jobseekers today scrutinise growth opportunities, company culture, leadership, and product portfolios. To stem brain drain, he stressed that competitive packages and mastery training for young hires are crucial.
Amid the crunch, Malaysia’s national semiconductor taskforce is considering allowing foreign graduates to work in the industry. Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association president Wong Siew Hai termed the situation “a war on talent”, with multinational firms aggressively recruiting locally and globally.
“Everybody is short on talent and hunting everywhere all over the world,” Wong said. His association has developed programmes aiming to resolve the engineer shortfall.
The government last year launched an industry training scheme subsidising school-leavers, hoping tech titans join. US chip colossus Intel, which set up its first overseas plant in Penang 50 years ago, is investing $5.4 billion expanding local operations, including an advanced packaging facility creating 4,000 high-paying jobs at its pioneering offshore 3D chip packaging site upon 2023 completion.
Under an industrial masterplan, Malaysia targets creating 700,000 high-income positions by 2030. For AT&S engineer Azzuani, invaluable training included a six-month China stint. She now makes AI-used integrated circuit substrates – “something I’m very excited about” – hoping to specialize and clinch senior manager roles.
“Actually, right now, there are a few companies wanting the same industry like AT&S. Whether to accept depends on you,” Azzuani said. “The most important thing other than salary is knowledge gained.”
