The National Electronics Complex of Pakistan has successfully concluded Cohort 1 of the INSPIRE IC Design and Verification Training, with 22 of its 40 graduates already employed before the closing ceremony held in Islamabad. The training was delivered under the Upskilling Training Programme of the National Semiconductor Human Resource Development Programme, a Prime Minister’s Special Initiative that is executed and funded by Pakistan Software Export Board. The result means that more than half of the graduates found jobs in multinational and other organisations while the training was still being completed, which is a strong early sign of demand for chip design skills in the market.
The National Electronics Complex of Pakistan led the programme from start to finish, taking charge of trainee selection, training delivery, and programme coordination. Professor Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhary, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, attended the closing ceremony as chief guest. He highlighted the important role that young professionals will play in the growth of the country and in its future in the semiconductor sector. Pakistan Software Export Board was represented by Syed Kashif Jehan, Project Director of the National Semiconductor Human Resource Development Programme, together with the project team and the directors responsible for training and placement, curriculum, and monitoring and evaluation, whose presence reflects the board’s close involvement in how the training is designed, delivered, and linked to employers.
The programme belongs to a wider national effort to build semiconductor talent. INSPIRE was launched in May 2026, when the first national semiconductor talent pipeline selected 200 trainees from more than 3,600 applicants for fully funded training in digital integrated circuit design and verification, with sessions starting at the GIK Institute in Topi and further venues including the National Electronics Complex of Pakistan, the Center for Advanced Studies in Engineering, and COMSATS University in Abbottabad. The completion of the first cohort at the National Electronics Complex of Pakistan shows that the training has moved from announcement to results. Integrated circuit design and verification are among the most specialised and scarce skills in the global electronics industry, since every chip must be designed and then tested extensively before it can be manufactured, and companies worldwide struggle to find enough engineers who can do this work.
Over five years, the National Semiconductor Human Resource Development Programme aims to train 7,200 professionals and students across Pakistan through two channels, the Upskilling Training Programme and the Semiconductor Education Research Clusters. The employment record of the first graduates will be watched closely, because it will help show whether the programme can supply engineers that match what employers need and keep them in the country. Pakistan Software Export Board congratulated all graduates on their achievement and thanked the National Electronics Complex of Pakistan for its dedication and the successful delivery of the training. With the first cohort complete and more than half of its graduates already working, the next batches will show if the programme can maintain this placement rate as it expands towards its target of 7,200 trainees.
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