Asia’s AI boom drives hiring crunch and new chip plants in Singapore

In short: Asia’s rush to build and use AI is boosting investment and factory building, but many companies say they cannot hire enough skilled engineers.

What's going on

Companies across Asia say a shortage of workers is slowing down AI and semiconductor projects. Semiconductor means computer chips, the small parts that power phones, laptops, and the servers used for AI. One Taiwan executive said that “any living, breathing engineer” has already been recruited by the biggest firms.

The hiring pressure is not limited to Taiwan. Executives said competition for talent is strong in places like Vietnam, and even tougher in Japan and South Korea, where populations are shrinking. That means fewer young workers are entering the job market at the same time demand is rising.

Money is still pouring into AI infrastructure, which is the physical backbone needed to run AI, mainly data centres (warehouses full of computers). Goldman Sachs Research estimated global AI investment could exceed $1tn in 2026. Consultancy Bain projected data centre spending of $5tn to $6.5tn by 2030.

Singapore is also benefiting from this growth. A TSMC affiliate called VIS opened an advanced chipmaking plant there and said its new capacity is already sold out. Broadcom and Japan’s Toppan also opened Singapore’s first advanced chip substrate plant, which makes a key material that chips are built on (like the base layer in a multi-layer cake).

What to watch

Governments in the region are starting to treat AI like essential infrastructure. South Korea’s deputy prime minister Bae Kyung-hoon said AI should be as broadly available as electricity, partly to avoid relying too heavily on foreign AI services. Watch for more public spending, more factory construction, and continued competition for engineers, which could affect prices and how quickly new AI products reach everyday users.

Source: Financial Times