Taiwan is racing to set up specialized "chip schools" that run year-round to train its next generation of semiconductor engineers and cement its dominance of the crucial industry.
The plans, championed by President Tsai Ing-wen, come as chip companies plow billions of dollars into capacity expansion to make the "brains" that power everything from smartphones to fighter jets, amid a global shortage. Chip giant TSMC alone this year will spend up to $44 billion and hire more than 8,000 employees.
Jack Sun, who retired as TSMC's chief technology officer in 2018 and became dean of one of the new semiconductor graduate schools last year, said chip companies need a lot more and better talent to compete on the global stage.