Talent Crunch in India’s Semiconductor Industry: How to Bridge the Gap?

Are you ready for the new global chip manufacturing powerhouse? We are talking about India’s semiconductor industry which is on the brink of a transformative breakthrough. The dynamic change is propelled by a plethora of factors including national priorities, global supply chain alterations, and surging electronics demand.

The Government has offered over $10 billion in production-linked incentives (PLI), to give it a boost. However, there is a line of caution in the plan due to a severe dearth of skilled talent in the area that might hinder the high-stakes transformation.

The Talent Deficit

There is a requirement for niche expertise in this sector with professionals who specialize in chip designing, fabrication, materials science, photolithography, and electronics engineering with substantial knowledge in AI and quantum computing. India now is challenged with a shortage of professionals well-versed in these special skills.

The India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), says that in the next five years, the demand-supply gap for skilled semiconductor professionals could exceed 200,000. The candidate pool we have currently has a substantial number of professionals in IT and software but lacks individuals in core hardware design and manufacturing domains.

India currently employs about 220,000 semiconductor professionals, but the industry faces a projected shortfall of 250,000 to 350,000 skilled workers by 2027 across the semiconductor value chain.

Domains

VLSI design, fabrication, packaging, ATMP (Assembly, Testing, Marking, and Packaging), and embedded systems.

Factors Contributing to the Shortfall

1. Academic Gaps

India’s academic institutions are responsible for creating an impactful semiconductor workforce, yet they are one of the most striking barriers. In most universities the recent engineering curriculum is favourable to software and IT-related subjects, often neglecting core hardware disciplines vital for the semiconductor industry.

Courses integral to semiconductor development like VLSI (Very-Large-Scale Integration) design, microelectronics, analog and digital circuit design, semiconductor device physics, etc are not offered as core subjects but are rather kept as electives.

The essential areas remain untapped by engineering graduates after completion of their degree with negligible to no knowledge.

The disparity exists partly due to the historical industry trends where for over a few decades now India has been a booming global leader in IT services and software development. These sectors have been academically qualified to cater to the market demand.

However, the hardware ecosystem, including chip design and manufacturing, is low in demand and is underdeveloped resulting in universities lacking interest in investing in research initiatives, specialized faculty, or labs.

2. Limited Research Ecosystem

Global semiconductor leaders like the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan have a robust foundation in semiconductor research and development (R&D) unlike India’s progress. The progression has essentially been foiled by a fragmented and unstable research ecosystem.

India currently has a handful of institutions like IIT Madras, IISc Bangalore, and a few other engineering institutes offering specialized programs related to meaningful semiconductor research. The focus within these institutes is often limited to academic research rather than applied exploration that fuels industry innovation or commercialization.

3. Losing Talent to Global Opportunities

A new phenomenon called brain drain is persistently challenging India’s semiconductor sector. The best and brightest of minds are outflowing to other countries. Every year, there is a talent migration from reputable engineering institutions and fresh graduates are off to pursue higher education or careers abroad. Developed countries offer advanced research facilities, cutting-edge technologies access to real-time industry projects, and better academic-industry collaboration.

Foreign companies are also offering higher pay packages with a better work-life balance, and structured career growth, motivating Indian graduates to dive into the opportunity.

4. Nascent Industry Presence

Another fundamental reason behind the talent crisis is the lack of development in the sector itself. With the powerful presence of the software industry in India taking over the globe, semiconductor manufacturing and design have always taken a back seat until very recently.

The ecosystem has been always limited to downstream activities namely chip testing and packaging. There have been global players like Intel, Texas Instruments, and Qualcomm who set up R&D and design centres in India, but there was an alarming absence of large-scale wafer fabrication units, manufacturing facilities, and domestic design-led product firms.

Regional Talent Hubs and Recruitment Trends

States such as Gujarat, Bengaluru (Karnataka), Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Assam are emerging as key semiconductor hubs with increased hiring for roles ranging from sales and field application engineers to chip designers and fabricators.

What are the Strategic Solutions for Bridging Gap?

The challenges need to be addressed strategically and with the involvement of government, academic institutions, industry, and other insignificant stakeholders.

1. Enhance Education and Training

Robust Indian semiconductor programs and modules with practical elements must be an integral part of universities. Institutes must integrate courses entailing analog design, digital IC design, fabrication processes, etc and these must be made mandatory in relevant engineering streams.

The government can join hands with academic institutions to establish Centers of Excellence (CoEs) for semiconductor research and training. By introducing short-term, focused certification and diploma courses institutions can accelerate the skills of engineering graduates and technicians.

2. Industry-Academia Tie up

India’s semiconductor talent problem can be resolved a lot if a more structured plan is designed to foster collaboration between industry and academia. There is a massive disconnect between theoretical education and practical knowledge which requires the taste of real-world scenarios.

It becomes difficult to bridge this gap in a complex, technologically advanced sector like semiconductors, where practical experiences and a deep understanding of cutting-edge technologies are vital for career preparedness.

Semiconductor education requires hands-on experiences and should comprehend fabrication constraints, be a part of system-level design, and learn how to optimize in real-world landscapes.

3. Public-Private Partnerships (PPP)

The more collaborative a framework is, the more effective it will be to the talent shortage in India’s semiconductor industry.  Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) for example is a great way where a blend of government policy support, funding, and institutional reach with agility, innovation, and technical advantage of the private sector can together strengthen workforce development and help in the expansion of research infrastructure.

The government of India has taken several initiatives including Skill India Mission, SANKALP, and the India Semiconductor Mission to strategically address skill gaps in the semiconductor value chain.

4. Retaining and Relegating Talent

India is on a pathway to create a competitive semiconductor ecosystem that has a global competitive edge. One of the most challenging aspects is to retain top-quality talent within the country. Training individuals and developing them into While training skilled professionals is important, equally essential is to offer long-term sustainable opportunities preventing skilled professionals from migrating abroad or switching industries.

To establish India as an attractive semiconductor hub and attract professionals, domestic enterprises must work towards offering substantial compensation, career development programs, and a positive workplace culture.

5. International Collaborations

India aims to become a global semiconductor powerhouse but for that, it has to grow its network and reach out internationally.  Semiconductors being the most complex and globalized industries, involve a web of supply chains, niche expertise, and state-of-the-art R&D landscapes.

The talent and technology gap can be met only if the country works towards strategic collaborations with governments and multinational enterprises to drive knowledge transfer, joint capacity-building, and ecosystem upgrades. India should enhance and expand bilateral ties with the most sought-after semiconductor nations like the United States, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Israel, and members of the European Union.

The Way Forward

The road to India’s semiconductor journey has several speed breakers but that does not mean that the ambition of becoming a global hub is not achievable. The initiative is not just about a tech push; it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to craft the future of global innovation. The current talent deficit is a structural hindrance that cannot be overcome overnight. It demands intense reforms in the education system, bold industry-academia collaborations, and strategic global partnerships.