(Yicai Global) Sept. 26 -- China’s rapidly growing robotics industry is in desperate need of five million specially trained engineers and technicians, especially inter-disciplinary and high-level talent, The Paper reported today.

Only a few fresh graduates each year meet the requirements of the country’s robotics sector, the report said, citing an industry insider. Training cannot keep up with the pace of growth and the technology upgrades. It also costs a lot to train staff and so poaching is very common, the person added.

The robotics industry has a high threshold for new hires as people need to have a certain amount of experience and knowledge, a robotics engineer said. This makes it difficult for the number of experts in the sector to grow significantly.

China’s robotics sector is expanding rapidly and is expected to account for a third of the global robotics market this year with a value of USD17.4 billion, according to a recent report by the Chinese Institute of Electronics.

Such is the demand for specialized workers that a quarter of all recruitment posts listed in the country from January to August were in the robotics related sectors, according to statistics from recruitment platform Liepin.

China’s manufacturing sector continued to suffer from a lack of labor in the second quarter, according to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

The ministry is paying close attention to the shortage of talent in the robotics sector. Over the past three years it has introduced 47 new occupations, 15 of which are directly related to artificial intelligence and robotics. Colleges have also started to offer more majors related to AI and robotics.

Editor: Kim Taylor