AT&S focuses on grooming locals for AI production facility
Commercial operations of Austrian tech giant AT&S's Kulim plant began early this year. (Bernama pic)
KULIM : Austrian tech giant AT&S is ramping up efforts to develop a skilled Malaysian workforce in line with a commitment to have locals make up almost 100% of the entire staff strength at its plant here.
AT&S's executive vice-president for microelectronics business, Ingolf Schroeder, said the company is collaborating with vocational training centres and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions to achieve the target.
Malaysia has become a critical manufacturing base for Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), a company focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing.
'Our facility here (in Kulim) is producing AMD's next-generation products, including advanced integrated circuit (IC) substrates used in AI,' Schroeder told reporters at AT&S's Malaysian plant in the Kulim Hi-Tech Park yesterday.
AT&S is already actively engaged with vocational and TVET institutions to provide professional training and foundational skills as well as to ensure smooth onboarding.
AT&S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik (M) Sdn Bhd senior vice-president and managing director Yap Suan See said the company sends experts to local institutions in partnership with the education sector.
She said the company also has programmes to meet each student's preferences. '(For instance) some students prefer hands-on production floor experience, so we provide that,' she said.
Yap noted that universities do not offer specialised courses related to IC substrates, a critical component used in semiconductors, smartphones, industrial electronics, automotive systems, medical devices, and AI hardware.
'We are working with institutions to develop the relevant modules and training programmes to better prepare students,' she said.
She added that fresh graduates hired to work at the plant are given 'a lot of training'.
Schroeder said AT&S has training programmes to meet industry needs.
'We have laid the foundation with local universities, and we need their willingness to adjust training content and make onboarding easier,' he said.
'We've had good cooperation from local authorities,' he added.
AT&S currently has 1,500 employees at its 255,000-square-metre site in Kulim. In 2021, it picked Malaysia for its first facility in Southeast Asia.
Construction work on the plant began in November 2021, while commercial operations began early this year.
The firm has invested over RM5 billion in its Malaysian facility, part of a broader RM8.5 billion Phase 1 development plan involving two production sites, including RM600 million for research and development.
AT&S's manufacturing facility in Kulim started the high-volume manufacturing of high-end IC substrates in March.
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