India needs fresh graduates, returning experts to bridge semicon talent gap

As fabs and packaging units move towards commercial production, experts say India must combine a pipeline of industry-ready graduates and technicians with incentives for experienced professionals

India will need to adopt a two-pronged approach of building a steady supply of fresh semiconductor graduates while also giving experienced global Indian-origin chip engineers an incentive to return to India and work with chip fabrication and packaging companies starting commercial production in India, experts say.

 

This model, they say, is necessary to meet the growing demand for talent as the country looks to develop a complete ecosystem for semiconductor production, including component supply chains, speciality chemicals and gas units, and logistics.

 

“The priority should be to build an industry-ready talent pipeline, not merely increase the number of graduates. Equally important is the need for skilled technicians, operators, and diploma-level talent who will form the backbone of manufacturing operations,” said Ashok Chandak, head of industry body India Electronics and Semiconductor Association.

 

As part of its India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), the ministry of electronics and information technology (Meity) has identified developing semiconductor talent as one of the six key pillars for the complete development of a domestic semiconductor ecosystem.

 

In the first phase of ISM, the government had targeted training 85,000 semiconductor engineers over 10 years starting in 2022. However, it achieved this target by 2026. In the second phase, the government has expanded its target and aims to train 100,000 engineers over the next six years.

 

Globally, the semiconductor industry is likely to face a talent supply crunch with a shortfall of at least a million trained workers over the next decade. This problem is likely to worsen as most countries renew their focus on setting up new chip fabrication units to diversify supply chains and play a bigger role in them.

 

India should, therefore, also scale up investment in specialised diploma institutes for semiconductor shop floor workers, said Rahul Garg, founder and chief executive officer of Moglix, a business-to-business marketplace for industrial and hardware supplies.

 

“A fab runs on power, ultra-pure water, speciality chemicals, precision equipment and qualified suppliers. Its workforce spans operators, technicians, process engineers, quality specialists and materials and procurement professionals. Yield, uptime, and process stability depend on people who have run fabs before, and every new fab is competing for that same small pool,” said Garg, who is also the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) chair for the Special Task Force on Advanced Manufacturing.

 

Additionally, the government and the semiconductor industry should ensure that practical exposure becomes a much larger part of education, Chandak said.

 

“Semiconductor manufacturing cannot be learnt entirely from classrooms. Students and faculty need exposure to fabs, OSAT/ATMP facilities, equipment, laboratories, EDA tools, and real manufacturing environments. Pilot lines have to be established in several parts of the country to get practical hands-on exposure for students and working professionals,” he said.