Vietnam developing quality semiconductor workforce

At a seminar on building and developing Vietnam’s semiconductor ecosystem, organised by the Vietnam National Innovation Centre (NIC) and Meta in collaboration with Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) on July 30, experts provided an overview of the semiconductor industry in Vietnam and identified workforce training directions through opinions and proposals from representatives of government, businesses, and academic institutions.

“If Vietnam only focuses on training a workforce to meet the needs of foreign companies, it will not be able to build its own semiconductor industry strength,” said Nguyen Duc Hoa, vice dean of the School of Materials Science and Engineering under the HUST. “Vietnam cannot compete in manufacturing because foreign companies are already strong. Instead, it should observe and train the workforce to participate in industrial sectors to create its own semiconductor ecosystem and join the global semiconductor supply chain.”

Currently, Vietnam has several labs working on semiconductors. Hoa suggested linking these labs to create an effective network or investing in building a large central laboratory, along with legal frameworks and financial mechanisms.

“For instance, if the NIC builds a lab in the Hoa Lac High-Tech Park, researchers can register for joint exploration. Clear rights and responsibilities are needed to fully tap into the potential of the workforce.”

Vietnam could also incorporate foreign training experiences into its programmes and enhance cooperation with foreign semiconductor training centres in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.

“As Vietnam is surrounded by semiconductor powerhouses, the country should send staff for training abroad or invite experts to train domestically. Policies should be established to leverage these opportunities for collaboration and integrate international expertise into Vietnam’s semiconductor ecosystem,” added Hoa.

Vietnam is being encouraged to move forward steadily in order to train the semiconductor workforce.

“Vietnam needs to pay close attention to materials science, focusing on training current and future teachers and engineers in semiconductor materials and chip manufacturing,” said Nguyen Ngoc Binh, chief advisor at PVA Tech and former rector of VNU University of Technology. “Do not just focus on integrated circuit design as it seems easy and is supported by foreign enterprises and corporations. Fabrication of electronic components is also critical because with a population of 100 million, importing all components is a huge waste.”

Moreover, he continued, there should be a review into universities that train in electronic components, like HUST, to ensure training in assembly and future fabrication before involving all 140 universities in semiconductor training, which would be inefficient. Inconsistent training may result in waiting for jobs that no country offers, risking the loss of high-quality human resources.

Teachers need to be trained correctly, and international certification is necessary to ensure workforce quality, Binh said.

The semiconductor workforce development plan towards 2030, with orientation to 2045, was completed at the end of April and has been presented to the government. Representatives at the semina stated that Vietnam currently has 160 specialised technical and technology training institutions and 134,000 new students each year. It is expected that in the coming years, about 1,400 students will graduate in semiconductor majors annually.

Vietnam has the conditions and capacity to train about 50,000 semiconductor engineers by 2030, including about 15,000 circuit design engineers and 35,000 engineers in packaging, manufacturing, testing, and other fields.

There should be at least 5,000 engineers with deep expertise in AI for the semiconductor industry and 1,300 lecturers teaching at research institutes, universities, training centres, and companies.

However, there is still a significant gap between supply and demand in terms of quality. Vu Viet Hung, representative of Tektronix Company in the US, suggested training directions for developing workforce skills in testing for the semiconductor industry.

“After packaging comes testing, depending on the needs of each unit. When my company delivered equipment and provided instructions, most Vietnamese workers and engineers found it relatively new, with only a few understanding the testing process,” Hung said.

“Vietnam has advantages in related fields such as telecoms, automation, and physics, which can be transitioned and utilised. The challenge is that testing equipment is relatively new, and universities in Vietnam lack the necessary equipment. Therefore, in this strongest wave of semiconductor development, I hope that government agencies like the NIC can develop shared laboratories for testing, design, and material fields,” added Hung.

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