The global semiconductor industry is short of hundreds of thousands of engineers, opening up great opportunities for Vietnam if it prepares its human resources well.
At the seminar on semiconductors on November 27 at Hanoi National University, many international experts said that the shortage of human resources is a bottleneck of the global semiconductor industry, but it also helps Vietnam participate more deeply in the supply chain.
Ms. Vu Kim Chi, Director of Market Development at Mitsubishi Research Institute, said that Japan alone lacks about 200,000 semiconductor workers by 2035. The demand has increased sharply in the context of Japan aiming to capture 15% of the global semiconductor market share in the next 10 years to regain its former position.
According to her, the country's human resources need to be spread across many positions, from production engineers in pre-production and post-production factories, factory operation technicians, to R&D engineers. They need engineers who understand the semiconductor production chain, have practical experience and the ability to communicate in Japanese. In addition, knowledge of data analysis, AI, and robotics is also considered important.
A chip model researched and developed by Vietnamese engineers, displayed at the Semi Expo 2025 exhibition. Photo: Trong Dat
"This is the time for Vietnam to think about both training for domestic needs and supplying human resources abroad," she suggested. Mitsubishi Research Institute proposed a three-way cooperation model between universities, businesses and training intermediary companies (staff agencies) to shorten the gap between training and recruitment needs.
From a business perspective, Mr. Wan Azmi Bin Wan Hussin, COO of CT Semiconductor, said the shortage of human resources is a common problem in both Asia and Europe. "Asia alone lacks about 450,000 highly qualified semiconductor workers. Vietnam is no exception to this trend," he said. He said that the semiconductor industry is growing faster than the supply of skilled, university-trained human resources. Besides, there is a gap between theory in training and the needs of businesses.
According to him, newly graduated engineers can hardly meet practical requirements immediately. "It's not easy for someone to get to work right away. It takes at least 6 months to get used to the machines," said the CEO of CT Semiconductor. He said that during the process of building the factory in Vietnam, the company had to ask for support from Korean experts due to a lack of domestic human resources.
Expert Wan Azmi Bin Wan Hussin of CT Semiconductor. Photo: Minh Son
Kenneth Tse, General Director of Intel Products Vietnam, was impressed with Vietnamese engineers and students, who, according to him, have a "great desire to learn". Commenting on the human resources of the semiconductor industry, the representative of the American chip company "has great confidence in Vietnam".
He believes that to solve the human resource problem, coordination between the state, schools and businesses is the key factor. "Working directly on the production line is the best way to learn", he said, adding that this will bring practical knowledge. He proposed building a cooperation mechanism that is mutually beneficial to promote the development of the industry.
Although Vietnam has potential, experts agree that the biggest challenge is still the speed of preparation. Human resource demand increases faster than training capacity, while businesses need engineers who can work right on the production line. Expanding international cooperation, bringing students into the production environment early and standardizing training programs are considered urgent steps.
Trong Dat
Theo VnExpress