Malaysia pushes talent development to boost chip sector

Employers point out gap between academic training and industry needs

20241211 Malaysia chip plant AT&S

An AT&S plant in Penang: The Austrian company designs and manufactures printed circuit boards and integrated circuit substrates in Malaysia. (AT&S)

NORMAN GOH and HAKIMIE AMRIE, Nikkei staff writers

KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysia is rushing to foster engineering talent to meet the country's ambition to become a major player in the global semiconductor industry.

Long a manufacturing hub in Asia, Malaysia is now expanding its chip sector, especially into front-end processes such as integrated circuit design. But businesses have continued to feel the pinch of a talent shortage, with students showing less interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields, and a growing disconnect between academic training and industry needs, experts say.

Sponsored Content

About Sponsored ContentThis content was commissioned by Nikkei's Global Business Bureau.