Taiwan Cultivates Young Overseas Chip Talent With Summer Camps, University Courses

Filling jobs locally in the vital industry is becoming harder amid fall in island's birth rate

- 

TAIPEI - Dressed in a white protective suit and face mask, Nicolas Chueh listened intently as a guide introduced a series of silver machines used in manufacturing Taiwan's cutting-edge semiconductors.

The 16-year-old was among students from eight countries at the summer camp staged to raise interest in Taiwan's most vital industry amid a fast-declining birth rate that could leave tens of thousands of critical jobs vacant.

"I myself really enjoy playing video games. So I'm really just always using these semiconductor products," said Nicolas, whose parents enrolled him after he expressed interest.

The camp, organised by US chip design software firm Synopsys, is among several such events staged by chip companies and Taiwanese universities in recent years as demand for semiconductors, which power most electronics and artificial intelligence (AI) servers, surges across the globe.

But for the first time in 2025, Synopsys, which has significant operations in Taiwan to be closer to the semiconductor supply chain, hosted the events both in Mandarin and English as Taiwan searches for overseas talent.