Sony has a development center in the U.S. with dozens of engineers adapting designs to customer specifications. The company is contemplating to open a similar R&D center in Europe in two to three years. Sony also plans to add technical support stuff in China to work with the local customers.
The image sensor market is growing 9% a year to reach $19b in 2022, according to IC Insights. 80% of Sony's image sensor business depends on smartphones. The company aims to lower the smartphone exposure to 70% by 2025 by expanding into automotive and industrial applications.
In spite of controlling 50% of the image sensor market, an unnamed Sony executive says that the company "cannot secure enough talent by looking in Japan alone." Job openings in Japan are sometimes over four times the number of applicants. Design centers in USA and Europe might solve Sony talent hiring problems.
An earlier Nikkei article portrays the hiring problem as industry-wide in Japan: "There are 256 open positions for every 100 job seekers in the semiconductor industry in Japan, up from 52 per 100 in January 2014, according to staffing agency Recruit Career. That is higher than the average for all industries."
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| Sony image sensor fab in Japan |
Thanks to TG and PK for the pointer!
It should be noted that Sony has adopted an age limit system for managerial personnel.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the age limit system for managerial personnel?
ReplyDeleteMost people have to retire at an age of 53.
DeleteThat's crazy, I believe Japan has the highest longevity, imagine if you are forced to retire at 53 and you live until 100, what a waste of talent, no?
DeleteWhich is probably illegal in other countries, besides, wouldn't you want to keep experiences managers? Also, why add an age limit system when you apparently have shortages...
ReplyDeleteWell... if you work long enough in plenty enough companies you'll see that maybe retiring people from important positions at a certain age might not be so bad... not everyone stays fresh and energetic and open minded. Many decisions will be made "because we always did that so" instead of "because it makes sense". Some people get driven by gut feelings from experience rather than by science. The relation to the state of the art is sometimes completely distorted if someone was actually getting their hands dirty only in the 70s/80s where computers didn't exist and ICs had 5-7 transistors and DRC was done by ruler. The way semiconductor business is done heavily changed and it's surprising to see some managerial personal that didn't actually do anything apart from reminiscing about the good old times over the last 20-30 years... It's stupid to generalize when a change of position might be adequate, but I think right now many companies are often really stretching it. Also I think one doesn't have to retire them entirely - just move them from important decisions. They might still be great consultants! I guess the age limit is just Sony's way of standardizing such a transition instead of making individual decisions people might perceive as offending. Sony is not the only company with such age limits btw...
DeleteIs this comment serious? Are you writing from Sony's HR department? Retiring anyone because of their age is nothing more than discrimination and Sony should be ashamed.
DeleteLast I checked Warren Buffet is still doing quite fine at the "ancient" age of 88.