(Yicai Global) March 23 -- The Lingang New Area, which is a new industrial zone in the city of Shanghai, is heading towards a severe talent crunch in its four key industries of integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, biomedicine and electric cars, a researcher said.

Lingang, which was formally established in 2018 to develop into a world-class industrial hub, will likely be short of 12,000 highly skilled professionals by 2025, Zhang Shaohua, director of the Shanghai Human Resources and Social Security Science Institute, said at the Lingang Science Innovation Summit forum yesterday.

Lingang is a production base for many leading firms, such as smart chip startup Horizon Robotics, battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology and US electric carmaker Tesla, and thus there is strong demand for similar skills, leading to a talent crunch, Zhang said.

At present 177 jobs in these four sectors need to be urgently filled, according to a survey released at the forum, which polled 65,000 employees at 191 companies.

Eighty-six percent of the jobs on offer in these four sectors are for professional and technical workers. And in the IC sector it is as high as 97 percent.

Higher education is a must. Some 80.2 percent of jobs require a bachelor’s degree or above, while in the biomedical industry it is 87.5 percent. The highest salary on offer is around CNY5 million (USD731,000) a year.

Work experience is also important to companies hiring in Lingang, with 78 percent of the positions advertised asking for at least two years of experience. The IC sector requires a minimum of three years.

With so many facilities entering full production, the shortage of skilled workers in Lingang will continue for some time, Zhang said.

Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor