It’s no secret that the world is facing a general shortage of semiconductor supplies, but today Samsung decided to debunk the rumor that it was stopping taking orders from other companies due to the shortage of employees in the development sector.
The rumor was originally reported by the Naver news agency, where it was said that Samsung has stopped accepting orders for 130~65nm semiconductors from local small and medium enterprises, as it is directing its employees to the 3nm foundry, which might be in need of bigger investments.
An excerpt from the publication reads:
It appears that R&D (production and development) capabilities are focused on improving the yield (good product ratio) of ultra-fine processes that have been the main focus, rather than the old processes with low demand.
Samsung quickly denied the publication through a note where it says:
A recent report that Samsung is experiencing legacy node issues due to talent shortages for its foundry operations is unfounded and untrue.
In addition to our industry-leading 3nm GAA process technology, legacy nodes are also an integral part of our foundry business and we will continue to serve the various needs of our customers.
This means that Samsung will continue to fulfill requests involving old lithographs, but it should be mentioned that the semiconductor industry is really having problems in hiring qualified professionals, as North American companies must need at least 27,000 people with master’s and doctoral degrees in these areas over the next 10 years.
The situation tends to be even more serious in China, where estimates say that regional factories will need an additional 300,000 people by 2025, when 2nm chips are expected to be mass produced, but only 6,000 currently have master’s and doctorate degrees in semiconductor engineering to do so. occupy these vacancies.
Some of the measures already taken to avoid problems due to the lack of workers are partnerships with universities to encourage the creation of talent in this area, which should be increasingly valued in the future.