MALAYSIA has approved RM47.67mil in training aid for 19,084 places in high-impact technology fields as part of efforts to build its semiconductor talent pipeline, the Dewan Rakyat was told.
Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said the funding, approved by the Human Resource Development Corporation (HRD Corp) in August, covered nine areas linked to the semiconductor industry.
These include integrated circuit (IC) design, advanced packaging, automation and digital technology.
Johari said the training was part of the National Semiconductor Strategy (NSS), under which Malaysia aims to develop 60,000 highly- skilled engineers by 2030.
He said 22,849 workers had been trained through various programmes conducted by higher education institutions and technical training providers as at the third quarter of this year.
“This achievement shows progress towards the target of 60,000.
“However, continued efforts are needed to ensure that the talent pool is not only sufficient in numbers, but also meets the increasingly complex skills and expertise required by the semiconductor industry,” he told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Johari was responding to Yeo Bee Yin (PH-Puchong), who sought an update on the NSS, including the number of people trained, expenditure, job placements by subsector and retention rates in the local semiconductor ecosystem.
He said the government was still compiling data on the number of trainees placed in various subsectors and those retained in Malaysia’s semiconductor industry.
Johari said the NSS talent development effort involved a whole- of-government approach, with ministries and agencies using existing allocations and programme grants to provide training, upskilling and reskilling.
He said Miti, through the Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science and Technology Centre, supported talent development through the Engineering Talent for Semiconductor Industry programme in collaboration with HRD Corp.
“The programme focuses on upskilling and reskilling workers, graduate employability, as well as industry-academia collaboration,” he said.
Training covers IC design, advanced packaging, wafer fabrication, embedded systems and automation.
