Realistic approach needed to nurture semiconductor experts
The government has unveiled a plan to cultivate 150,000 semiconductor experts over the next decade. It came out barely 40 days after President Yoon Suk-yeol called for increasing semiconductor workers, saying, "The foremost duty of the Ministry of Education is supplying industrial workforce." From now on, all colleges, including those in the overcrowded Seoul metropolitan region, will be able to establish or expand related departments if they can recruit teaching faculties.
The plan reflected the industry's demand for 127,000 more workers over the next 10 years, as estimated by the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association. It is more than four times more than the 36,000 workers planned by the former Moon Jae-in administration. The association based its estimation on the assumption that the semiconductor industry would grow 5.6 percent yearly. However, the forecast is unduly optimistic, considering that the chipmaking sector, like most other industries, alternates between boom and bust. And the government can hardly avoid criticism for accepting industrialists' rosy picture without an objective analysis. For example, let's suppose the nation concentrates limited human resources in the chipmaking industry. What will it do if the sector gets mired in a protracted slump?
To attain its goal, the ministry will also likely relax the criteria required for proper education, causing concerns about further pulling down Korean universities' already-low educational standards. Education cannot be irrelevant to the industry. However, if Korea approaches it only as a bread-and-butter issue as Yoon does, the nation cannot avoid academic regression. No less problematic is the consequent widening of the gap between colleges in the greater Seoul area and provinces. Schools in the capital city and its vicinity will absorb more students, while provincial colleges will see an even greater exodus of students.
Few can deny the need for fostering the semiconductor workforce as a national strategic asset, as shown in the increasingly fierce competition between the U.S. and China. Still, the improvised plan is feared to aggravate the already-serious regional imbalance while resulting in the oversupply of personnel.
The government has unveiled a plan to cultivate 150,000 semiconductor experts over the next decade. It came out barely 40 days after President Yoon Suk-yeol called for increasing semiconductor workers, saying, "The foremost duty of the Ministry of Education is supplying industrial workforce." From now on, all colleges, including those in the overcrowded Seoul metropolitan region, will be able to establish or expand related departments if they can recruit teaching faculties.
The plan reflected the industry's demand for 127,000 more workers over the next 10 years, as estimated by the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association. It is more than four times more than the 36,000 workers planned by the former Moon Jae-in administration. The association based its estimation on the assumption that the semiconductor industry would grow 5.6 percent yearly. However, the forecast is unduly optimistic, considering that the chipmaking sector, like most other industries, alternates between boom and bust. And the government can hardly avoid criticism for accepting industrialists' rosy picture without an objective analysis. For example, let's suppose the nation concentrates limited human resources in the chipmaking industry. What will it do if the sector gets mired in a protracted slump?
To attain its goal, the ministry will also likely relax the criteria required for proper education, causing concerns about further pulling down Korean universities' already-low educational standards. Education cannot be irrelevant to the industry. However, if Korea approaches it only as a bread-and-butter issue as Yoon does, the nation cannot avoid academic regression. No less problematic is the consequent widening of the gap between colleges in the greater Seoul area and provinces. Schools in the capital city and its vicinity will absorb more students, while provincial colleges will see an even greater exodus of students.
Few can deny the need for fostering the semiconductor workforce as a national strategic asset, as shown in the increasingly fierce competition between the U.S. and China. Still, the improvised plan is feared to aggravate the already-serious regional imbalance while resulting in the oversupply of personnel.
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