System semiconductor companies, facing threats to their survival due to a shortage of developers, have set out to resolve the manpower crisis through in-house training.

According to the system semiconductor industry, it has been reported that the Korea System Semiconductor Forum, a group of system semiconductor companies, recently proposed a one-year training course for system semiconductor designers to the government.

It was reported that the government and forum member companies would provide relevant training for one year to non-specialist and unpopular major students, after which all of them would be employed by forum member companies.

This industry proposal is reportedly due to the accelerating labor shortage in the system semiconductor industry.

For system semiconductor companies, semiconductor design personnel are a core asset. This is because development itself is impossible without these personnel.

Amidst this, developers have recently started to become scarce.

Demand for developers has exploded in key foundational industries, including memory semiconductors—the core of the Korean semiconductor industry—as well as future industries such as artificial intelligence and autonomous driving, electronics, and telecommunications.

As a result, the reality is that all new graduates from universities are being hired by large corporations, and existing graduates are also being scouted by large corporations with signing bonuses of tens of millions of won.

Under these circumstances, structurally disadvantaged system semiconductor companies are being shunned by developers due to working conditions and treatment, and are struggling to recruit the developers who form the very foundation of their existence.

In particular, system semiconductor companies, and among them fabless companies, are bound to be undervalued in corporate evaluations because they lack physical assets regardless of technology.

Furthermore, although support has improved recently, the reality is that it is still insufficient, and as a result, developers are frequently poached by large corporations offering better working conditions.

For developers, it is only natural to move to large corporations, as working for a well-known conglomerate with a high salary is more promising in terms of benefits and future growth potential than working for an uncertain venture or small-to-medium enterprise.

Therefore, in the current situation, the industry has agreed to foster developers on its own initiative, rather than simply posting job openings and waiting for them to find employment.

Although a proposal has been submitted to the government and has not yet been finalized, the industry is unanimously calling for its passage to alleviate the labor shortage in the system semiconductor industry.

There is also an opinion that it is necessary to prioritize laying the foundation for the growth of small venture companies in the system semiconductor industry.

The opinion is that there needs to be an increase in cases where small venture companies grow into large corporations so that developers can look toward the future and commit to the system semiconductor industry.

To this end, the industry suggests that it is necessary to create an environment where promising fabless companies can be acquired by large corporations for high amounts.