The "Financial Times" talked about Japan's semiconductor talent problem on June 26. Toshiba, Sony and other Japan's largest semiconductor manufacturers warned that the government's move to revive the domestic chip industry was threatened by a shortage of engineers.

Amid an expected labor shortage, Japan is trying to increase semiconductor investment to strengthen economic security against chip shortages caused by supply disruptions due to the coronavirus.

In an appeal to Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry last month, an electronics industry body said the next five years to 2030 were the "last and biggest opportunity" for Japan's semiconductor industry to regain its footing after years of losing global market share.

The Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industry Association said the industry's success depends on getting enough talent to innovate and operate its chip factories. It is estimated that over the next 10 years, eight major producers will need to hire about 35,000 engineers to keep up with the investment.

"People often say that semiconductors are lacking, but engineers are the most lacking," said Hideki Wakabayashi, head of the policy proposal working group of the Semiconductor Committee of the Japan Semiconductor Industry Association and a professor at Tokyo University of Science.

In the late 1980s, Japanese semiconductor companies aggressively expanded production, surpassing the United States and accounting for more than half of the global market share. But after a bitter trade conflict with Washington, Japan ceded its dominance to companies in South Korea, Taiwan and China.

This led to mass layoffs of engineers after the 2008 global financial crisis. That's why there aren't enough experienced engineers today, Hideki Wakabayashi said.

Toyoki Mitsui, manager of flash memory maker Kioxia, which is part of a JEITA working group, said semiconductor students at university now tend to join financial institutions or tech companies because the chip industry has long lost its appeal.

To spur innovation and train future employees, Toshiba, Sony and others are partnering with the nation's best science universities and investing more in chip research and recruiting.

Last month, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to strengthen semiconductor manufacturing capabilities and cooperate more in developing advanced chips.

TSMC is teaming up with Sony to build an $8.6 billion factory on the southern island of Kyushu, where it plans to hire about 1,700 workers. The government said it would provide subsidies of up to 476 billion yuan ($3.5 billion).

More and more factories are about to start production. Kioxia and its joint venture partner Western Digital are spending nearly 1 trillion yen to build a factory in central Japan that will start production this fall. In addition, it will allocate another 1 trillion yen to build a factory in northern Japan that is due to be completed next year.

Renesas Electronics will invest 90 billion yen to restart a factory closed in 2014 to expand production of power semiconductors for electric vehicles. "Until the mid-1910s, Japan was at odds with the rest of the world in terms of investment and hiring, even though the global chip industry had doubled in size," said Kazuma Inoue, a consultant at Recruit.

However, Kazuma Inoue said it was difficult to find workers. According to data released by Japan's Statistics Bureau, the number of electronic components, equipment and circuit workers aged 25 to 44 will drop from 380,000 in 2010 to 240,000 in 2021.

"Most Japanese science students are more interested in IT, not necessarily semiconductors," said Takashi Miyamori, an executive at Toshiba's electronic components division. "The competition for the best engineers is all over the world, and we need to find ways to increase our competitiveness."