Sumit Kumar, Chief Strategy Officer at TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship, discusses the pivotal role of skill development initiatives in bolstering India’s semiconductor industry. From PLI and DLI schemes to tailored training programs, Kumar outlines strategies to bridge skill gaps and meet the burgeoning demand for skilled professionals.
Read the full interview here:
TimesTech: How do the PLI and DLI schemes contribute to job creation and financial incentives for semiconductor manufacturers and designers, aligning with India’s goal of creating 1 million jobs by 2025-2026?
Mr Sumit: The recent news of approval of $15b investment in 3 semiconductor plants, is in line with the objectives laid down in India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) initiated by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, as well as the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the electronics sector, which offers a $1.7 Bn incentive package for companies establishing semiconductor manufacturing facilities in India. Additionally, the government has introduced the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) and other schemes such Chips to Startup (C2S) and Scheme for Promotion of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS) to support the industry.
The semiconductor industry is expected to create nearly 1 million jobs in the next 4-5 years. However, our internal projections show a skill gap of 250,000 to 300,000 by 2027 in the next 3 years, across the production chain, specifically R&D, design, manufacturing/fabrication, and assembly, test, packaging (ATP)/Advanced Packaging. While foundational higher degree education has been adapting to the industry needs, with IITs and many engineering colleges launching programs in microelectronics and design, the organisations are collaborating with Sector Skill Council to create programs for skilling, upskilling and reskilling of workforce to create capacity.
TimesTech: What types of training programs are needed to meet the growing demand for skilled professionals in semiconductor manufacturing and design?
Mr Sumit: There are multiple initiatives that should be explored: Degree Apprenticeships or Education Blended Apprenticeships programs involving academia & industry to create skill-specific theoretical and OJT programs; Training programs to upskill professionals in advanced areas of chip design and manufacturing; Certification programs to validate the skills of professionals thereby creating a larger pool of skilled workforce. Through collaborative efforts with Sector Skill Councils, organizations can curate impactful programs for skill development, upskilling, and reskilling the workforce, fostering a more extensive pool of adept professionals ready to thrive in dynamic industries.
TimesTech: Which specific job roles within manufacturing, design, and research are seeing increased demand for skilled professionals in the semiconductor industry?
Mr Sumit: In the semiconductor sector, there is a significant demand for skilled people, particularly in fabrication roles. Over the next 2-3 years, we anticipate a need for approximately 2-3 lakh skilled people to meet the industry’s requirements.
TimesTech: How are recruitment trends shifting to favor candidates with expertise in emerging technologies like AI, IoT, and 5G within the semiconductor field?
Mr Sumit: The semicon value chain involves R&D, Design/ Electronic Design Automation (EDA) , Manufacturing/Fabrication, and Advanced Packaging/ Assembly-Testing-Packaging (ATP). At the manufacturing end of the spectrum, Indian companies are moving to automation, robotics and smart manufacturing, requiring talent proficient in AI, IoT and ML/ Data Science. There is spurt in demand for talent proficient in AI-enabled chip manufacturing, packaging and testing processes, as well as, real-time defect monitoring & real-time big data processing. At the same time, we are witnessing a shift to high value creation activities of Design, Electronic Design Automation (EDA) and R&D, where there’s a growing demand for Data Scientists and chip designers proficient in AI and machine learning.
TimesTech: Can you share examples of successful collaborations between industry and educational institutions aimed at talent development and addressing skill gaps in the semiconductor industry?
Mr Sumit: With our mission of Putting India to Work, we are working on not just helping bridge the demand-supply gap for the industry, but also working closely with 60+ universities and government bodies in designing courses for empowering aspiring professionals with the requisite knowledge and skills to thrive in the semiconductor industry. The current industry players are specializing in design, which are actively onboarding apprentices, and we are helping them in onboarding fresh graduates via the route of apprenticeships. The upcoming players are specializing in fabrication and packaging where we manage regular apprenticeships (Electronics Machine Maintenance Executive, Assembly Line operator, etc) under the aegis of the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and also collaborating with academia and industry to create curated programs like PG Diploma in Total Quality Management & MBA for Technical Graduates, PG holders and MBA under the Work Integrated Learning Program for support functions, among others. From a service solution perspective, we have also launched Hire Train Deploy Model and Managed Training Services for implementing industry best practices from Day Zero in training and deployment.
TimesTech: How can apprenticeship programs, inspired by successful international models, be adapted to the Indian context to effectively bridge the gap between industry demands and workforce skills?
Mr Sumit: The proportion of apprentices as a total of workforce in India is at an abysmal 0.14% compared to Germany, UK and Switzerland where it’s more than 2.5%, with 3 to 4 times more organizations engaging apprentices in these countries against a meagre 40000 Indian companies presently involved in apprenticeships. Multiple factors are at play here – active industry involvement, public-private partnerships, positive perceptions around apprenticeships as well as robust systems. We could take a leaf out of their books and initiate some changes. Firstly, like the Swiss vocational and professional education and training (VPET) system, we need active industry participation in designing course curriculum and apprenticeship programs which best dictates skills needed by industry and thus helping apprentices to acquire industry relevant skills. Secondly, The Swiss system is characterised by a high degree of permeability— the ability to pursue subsequent education and training opportunities and switch between vocational and general education pathways. This is an important element which makes apprenticeship attractive to the youth, by making apprenticeships a part of education led learning system. In India, we need to implement the same system for more youth to join the apprenticeship system, get industry-relevant skills and for the industry to thus have a larger pool of skilled talent to choose from. Thirdly, globally and especially in Australia, MSMEs actively engage apprentices to develop a skilled workforce contributing to their economic productivity. Australia follows a GTO model where an apprenticeship enrolls with an agency which places the apprentice in multiple MSMEs, resulting in cost saving, skill exchange and overall skill development for the apprentice.
