BoI targets producing 128K semiconductor workers

BoI targets producing 128K semiconductor workers | Daily Tribune

In a bid for the country to embrace innovation, the Board of Investments (BoI), along with national government agencies (NGAs) and private sector partners, is aiming to produce 128,000 engineers and technicians by 2028, in support of the country’s semiconductor and electronics (S&E) industry.

“The DTI is targeting to develop 128,000 engineers and technicians by 2028 to support the S&E industry. From micro-engineers to TESDA-certified technicians, licensed engineers to PhD and master’s graduates, we will need their skills and capabilities to move the semiconductor and electronics industry forward,” said Trade Undersecretary and BoI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo at the recent S&E Media Roundtable.

The DTI-BoI, the Department of Science and Technology’s Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DoST-PCIEERD), and the Center for Integrated Circuits and Devices Research (CIDR) pledged to level up the Filipino workforce’s skills to bolster the semiconductor industry in the Philippines.

Young workforce

According to Rodolfo, compared to other countries, the Philippines has a young workforce population with talent and skills recognized by companies worldwide, adding that the challenge for the government is to harness the workers’ talent.

“There is a vibrant opportunity for students to work in the industry,” Undersecretary Rodolfo said, recognizing the critical role of skilled labor in boosting the country’s position as a strategic partner and regional hub for electronics manufacturing.

It can be made possible, he said, with continued collaboration with other government agencies such as the Department of Education (DepEd), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority Commission on Higher Education, other NGAs, local government units and the academe.

For his part, Dr. Dan Lachica, president of Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. (SEIPI) said students must be informed of the country’s semiconductor industry opportunities to increase the workforce.

Earl Qua, president of EIAPI (Electronics Industries Association of the Philippines Inc., underscored the significance of a government-academe tie-up to enable students to become job-ready in the semiconductor and electronics industry.

“Filipinos are skillful, and the stronger partnership between the academe and the industry could only make them better,” Qua said in the roundtable discussion.

Through the S&E Working Group co-chaired by the BoI and the SEIPI, the government implements the Product and Technology Holistic Strategy which identifies new, emerging, and future-ready products and technologies that the Philippines should work on in the next five years to develop a niche in the global market; the right conditions that will create an environment conducive to the transfer of new technologies to the Philippines and the shift to higher-value manufacturing; and the right socio-economic environment that will sustain the growth of the S&E industry.

Merchandise exports surge

Philippine merchandise exports surged by 15.7 percent in February 2024, recording $5.9 billion compared to $5.1 billion over a year earlier, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority said.

The significant growth is a promising indicator for the Philippine economy, driven largely by the robust upturn in the semiconductor industry.

The positive momentum continued into the first two months of 2024, with total merchandise exports rising by 12.3 percent to $11.8 billion, up from $10.5 billion in the same period last year.