Semiconductor majors are gaining popularity at universities. Along with contract-based departments tied to employment at Samsung Electronics (DS Division) and SK hynix, the number of general semiconductor departments and their admission quotas is also on the rise.
Even so, critics point out that the specialized workforce needed on semiconductor industry front lines remains insufficient. According to the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, the workforce required by the domestic semiconductor industry will surge to 304,000 by 2031, but the scale of talent cultivation falls short, leaving a projected shortage of around 54,000 people. It is realistically difficult for universities to dramatically expand only semiconductor majors among their many programs. With technology advancing rapidly, there are also limits to flexibly reflecting such changes in curricula to cultivate talent that can be deployed immediately to industry front lines.
Under these circumstances, the solution is to expand industry-academia cooperation, which can overcome the limitations of university education and help companies secure the talent they need. Companies must recognize talent cultivation not as a cost but as an investment, and actively pursue expanded cooperation with universities and high schools. Contract-based departments tied to employment at Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are currently established at 10 universities, with annual admissions of only around 500 people. Half of these, five universities—Korea University, Yonsei University, Sogang University, Hanyang University, and Sungkyunkwan University—are concentrated in the greater Seoul area.
As the Ministry of Education recently announced, semiconductor contract departments need to be expanded further into non-Seoul regions, such as through the establishment of new Samsung Electronics and SK hynix semiconductor contract departments at regional flagship national universities. Contract departments should also be expanded into diverse fields such as materials, equipment, and components that support semiconductor manufacturing. This is because the semiconductor industry ecosystem consists of companies across various process fields, from design to manufacturing, equipment, materials, testing, and packaging. Only when talented people enter not just Samsung Electronics and SK hynix but also partner companies can this lead to the development of the ecosystem as a whole.
The path to becoming a talent specialized in semiconductor technology even without a university degree should also be broadened. Systems like Germany's meister program, which cultivates specialized technical workers at high schools through industry-academia cooperation, could serve as an alternative. If specialized high schools allow students to learn both theory and practical skills while obtaining socially recognized professional certifications, it would help secure the workforce needed on semiconductor industry front lines.
Through its semiconductor talent cultivation plan announced in 2022, the government is pursuing the cultivation of more than 150,000 semiconductor specialists by 2031, through measures such as fostering specialized universities and increasing contract department enrollment quotas. It recently announced the "three mega projects," a plan to foster the semiconductor, AI data center, and physical AI industries, and related ministries including the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the Ministry of Employment and Labor have launched talent cultivation policies to support it. Policies for cultivating semiconductor talent, such as expanding industry-academia cooperation and improving the education system, must continue without wavering. Only when the semiconductor industry establishes itself as a field where talented people can stake their lives to take on challenges can Korea sustain its status as a semiconductor powerhouse.
