WANTED: 60,000 engineers

Malaysia seeks to recruit, retain and draw talent home to drive chip ambitions

- Lu Wei Hoong

Fifteen years ago, Terengganu-born Dr Salleh Ahmad could not find a job in Malaysia that matched his qualifications. He had just graduated from France's top engineering school ESIEE Paris with an engineering degree in microelectronics in 2009 and wanted to design microchips for the aerospace sector.

Instead, he stayed in Paris to work for Laboratoire de l'Accelerateur Lineaire, a research unit within the French national nuclear and particle physics institute. In 2012, he moved to microchip manufacturer Weeroc to pursue his career while studying for his PhD in astrophysics at Paris-Sud University.

Now, Dr Salleh is returning to his homeland as Weeroc's chief technology officer, tasked with setting up an office in Selangor's Integrated Circuit (IC) Design Park. Located in Puchong, a suburb 20km south of Kuala Lumpur, this facility spearheads Malaysia's ambition to move up the semiconductor value chain.

"Malaysia is a good choice due to its bright industry prospects, government incentives and the low cost of doing business," Dr Salleh told The Straits Times.

In 2022, Weeroc won a tender from the European Space Agency to lead a microchip project for the European telecommunication satellite platform in collaboration with Airbus Defence and Space. Dr Salleh said the team in Puchong will be gradually integrated into this project.

Dr Salleh is one of the returnees contributing to the manpower needed to drive Malaysia's chipsector ambitions.

Another 60,000 engineers are required for the chip industry, in addition to the existing pool of about 90,000, said Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association (MSIA) chairman Wong Siew Hai.

The nation's ambitions rest on a three-pronged plan to gain and train talent via the three Rs: recruit, retain and returnees. That is, to hire the necessary engineers, retain existing talent and encourage Malaysian engineers working abroad to return home.