President and general director of NVIDIA Jensen Huang arriving in Vietnam last week, considers Vietnam to be a promising market with significant prospects in AI and semiconductors, with a particular emphasis on human resources.

Microchip labour mantle up for grabs, illustration photo/ Source: freepik.com

“We are prepared to collaborate with Vietnam to improve AI infrastructure and capabilities,” Huang stated at a seminar on the semiconductor industry.

GPUs and APIs for data science and high-performance computing for the mobile and automotive computing markets are NVIDIA’s areas of expertise as a multinational tech corporation.

“At this time, the challenge is to develop one million AI specialists with enhanced skills,” Huang stated. “Vietnam possesses commendable infrastructure and education, but it must promote the development of AI among younger generations and retain Vietnamese engineers and specialists who have been working as consultants for multinational semiconductor corporations overseas.”

The number of Vietnamese individuals residing and employed overseas has surpassed 5.3 million, as reported by the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese in 2022.

John Neffeur, president of the Semiconductor Industry Association of the US, made a third visit to Vietnam in a support-seeking capacity a fortnight ago. He said that Vietnam in recent times has emerged as a significant contributor to the United States’ semiconductor workforce shortage.

According to a notice issued by the government office on December 7, Neffeur reportedly informed Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh that the US is seeking more human resources in the semiconductor industry. Investment sources for initiatives in the US, such as the CHIPS and Science Act, are providing increased and renewed financial support to the semiconductor manufacturing infrastructure.

Subsidies totalling $39 billion from the act are providing increased and renewed financial support to the semiconductor manufacturing infrastructure, an area that is currently facing a staffing shortage. The US government enacted the legislation in 2022 in an effort to transform the country into a semiconductor superpower, thereby decreasing its reliance on Asian supply chains.

By 2030, the semiconductor industry in the US will lack approximately 300,000 engineers and 90,000 competent technicians, according to McKinsey.

Domestic analysts recognise Vietnam as a potential supplier of human resources for the worldwide semiconductor market. Two significant factors support this perception: Vietnam’s sizable and youthful population and the rising demand for proficient personnel in the electronics sector. Vietnam’s favourable business climate is further enhanced by its strategic location in Southeast Asia and its economy-friendly labour costs.

However, Vietnam faces specific challenges regarding the quantity and calibre of its human resources. Dr. Nguyen Duc Minh, associate professor and dean of the Department of Electronics at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, stated that microchips and semiconductors are not novel academic disciplines in Vietnam; enrolment demand increases by around 10 per cent annually, but the industry’s human resource pool is modest.

“The primary reason is the interplay between supply and demand (between the labour market and the education and training system), and the semiconductor industry is notorious for its challenging nature and high input demands. As of August 2023, the STEM department of this institution produced 450 graduates; however, a mere 10 per cent were employed in semiconductor design companies,” Minh said.

Training units have historically encountered challenges in developing human resources for the semiconductor and integrated circuit design industries due to the limited number of students pursuing related academic disciplines and the low level of interest in the semiconductor sector.

Minh added, “Vietnam has approximately 5,000 individuals designing circuits, but primarily physical design and few are structural design engineers, fields that require extensive expertise.”

The global semiconductor supply chain consists of three stages: design, production, and packaging. Design contributes half of the added value and is primarily executed in the US; manufacturing shares one-quarter of the value and is dominated by Taiwan; and packaging accounts for 6 per cent, which is primarily concentrated in Malaysia and Vietnam.

Vietnam remains capable of serving as a supplier to the United States market and also developing new production facilities within its borders. “We are able to boost the amount of semiconductor staff when the marketplace requires it,” Minh said.

Vietnam offers exceptional education in electronics and electrical engineering, with a particular emphasis on microchips. Furthermore, individuals with backgrounds in technical physics, computer engineering, or electrical engineering can transition to semiconductor companies within a mere 12 months.