According to a report by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), Vietnam's semiconductor industry is expected to need about 15,000 microchip design engineers by 2030. Currently, our country only has about 5,000 engineers in all stages of chip design. Vietnam has a large gap in chip design human resources that needs to be supplemented and filled in the next 5 years.

Sharing at the seminar on semiconductor chip design organized by the National Innovation Center (NIC, Ministry of Planning and Investment) in collaboration with FPT Jetking, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Yen - General Director of CoAsia SEMI Vietnam said that the average annual salary of chip design engineers in the US is about 100,000 to 300,000 USD.

In Vietnam, the income of chip designers ranges from 10,000 to 100,000 USD per year. Of which, the salary of engineers with 1-3 years of experience ranges from 10,000 - 15,000 USD/year. If having 4-6 years of experience, people in this industry can earn 16,000 - 25,000 USD/year. The income level can increase to 46,000 - 80,000 USD, or even higher, for those with over 11 years of experience.

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Semiconductor expert Nguyen Thanh Yen. Photo: The Dai

Mr. Le Thanh Nam - Director of VIETA Solutions Vietnam Company (under ETA Semiconductor) said that at this enterprise, the salary of a chip design engineer with 1 year of experience is about 1,000 USD/month. The increasing number of educational institutions training in the semiconductor industry has also opened up opportunities to supplement the labor force for Vietnamese chip design companies.

Sharing about how to become a chip design engineer, according to Mr. Hoang Nam Tien - Vice Chairman of FPT University Council, in addition to long-term courses at universities, those interested in job opportunities in the semiconductor industry can access vocational training courses. FPT Jetking's chip design courses are providing opportunities to enter the semiconductor industry in that direction.

Assessing the income of chip designers, experts all agree that there is still a large gap between Vietnam and the US. However, chip design is a high-income industry in Vietnam compared to the general level.

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Mr. Vo Xuan Hoai - Deputy Director of the National Innovation Center. Photo: Trong Dat

According to Mr. Vo Xuan Hoai - Deputy Director of the National Innovation Center, the fact that chip workers' salaries in Vietnam are lower than in the US can be seen as an opportunity for foreign technology companies and semiconductor corporations to come to Vietnam to hire workers, set up representative offices and factories.

Vietnam has good relationships with leading chip manufacturers such as the US, South Korea, and Taiwan (China). Taiwan is in need of shifting and diversifying its semiconductor supply chain. Vietnam’s geographical location and intellectual resource potential also bring opportunities to Vietnam.

“ In fact, many semiconductor businesses have gone through the National Innovation Center to seek investment opportunities, ” said Mr. Vo Xuan Hoai.

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Young people learn about career opportunities in the semiconductor industry. Photo: Trong Dat

Sharing at the chip design seminar, Mr. Le Hai Anh - Director of Dolphin Technology Vietnam Center said that foreign semiconductor enterprises will look at costs and opportunities when deciding whether to invest in Vietnam or not.

“ In addition to attractive investment opportunities, one of Vietnam’s advantages is that there are a large number of Vietnamese engineers working in chip design in the US, Korea, and Singapore. They will help global semiconductor corporations see the quality of Vietnamese human resources, thereby indirectly affecting the need to open offices and businesses, ” said Mr. Le Hai Anh.

According to Deputy Director of the National Innovation Center Vo Hoai Xuan, the semiconductor industry needs a huge amount of investment if it wants to develop. This requires large investment from the State, which is a challenge for Vietnam.

The semiconductor industry also needs unprecedented policies. This is an important stage to perfect the institution to develop the semiconductor industry. At the same time, Vietnam needs to prepare both infrastructure and human resources to be ready to participate in this industry.

Is it feasible to train chip design engineers in 3-6 months? Vietnam's semiconductor industry is lacking chip design engineers. Short-term training and retraining of engineers are being proposed as a solution for Vietnam's approach.