With semiconductor powerhouses such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix headquartered in Korea and the region featuring a robust supply chain, demand for skilled workers there is higher in than in many other countries. SEMI Korea’s efforts to recruit talent and increase diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) to help meet the semiconductor industry’s current and future workforce needs are growing in importance as the industry presses ahead to recruit skilled workers.
The SEMI Korea Workforce Development Council is a key force in helping build the chip industry’s talent pipeline, meeting regularly to work with other member companies not only to create high-impact workforce development (WFD) programs but to provide speakers for the events. The council consists of 16 companies including Advantest, Applied Materials, ASM, ASML, Dongjin Semichem, Entegris, EO Technics, Jusung Engineering, KLA, Lam Research, Merck, PSK, SEMES, STECO, Tokyo Electron, and Wonik IPS.
Workforce Development and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Programs in Korea
SEMI Korea now offers eight WFD and DEI programs geared toward university students and junior engineers.
- Women-in-Technology
- Meet the Experts!
- SPT Hands-on Training
- Campus Outreach
- SPT Tutorial
- TEST Tutorial
- Packaging Tutorial
- SEMI Korea Ambassador
Meet the Experts! and Women-in-Technology
At SEMICON Korea Hybrid 2022 in February, the Meet the Experts! and Women-in-Technology programs were held online. More than 730 university students attended The Meet the Experts! program featuring presentations from eight SEMI member companies on mentoring and semiconductor industry career paths. The companies discussed career opportunities across various roles such as customer service engineer, technical support engineer and process engineer and in areas including design and software.
Five female leaders in high-tech industries offered insights to an audience of about 200 people on enhancing workplace diversity during the Women-in-Technology program. The leaders also offered advice on career planning and growth opportunities for women in the industry.
Semiconductor Process Technology Hands-on Training
SEMI Korea’s Semiconductor Process Technology Hands-on Tutorial is so popular with university students that the registration page is flooded with registrations as soon potential workers can sign up. The curriculum includes hands-on operation of semiconductor equipment by students considering careers in semiconductor manufacturing to give them a better sense of the work involved.
Post-event surveys show that 81% of students start careers in the semiconductor industry. In response to the question “Did this education help you get a job in the semiconductor industry?”, students gave the program an average score of 4.0 on a scale of 1.0 to 5.0.
By the end of 2022, the tutorial will have been held eight times, with 120 students expected to complete the training.
University students learn about semiconductor process technology in a fab at MyongJi University.
SEMI Korea Ambassador
In the SEMI Korea Ambassador program, STEM university students visit semiconductor companies and interview executives, engineers and human resources managers at the organizations for stories that they write for blogs and other forms of social media to help raise awareness of chip industry careers. The pieces often include information on semiconductor technologies and industry forecasts. Twelve SEMI Korea Ambassadors, called SEMIgizers, participated in SEMICON Korea 2022 and other SEMI Korea events this year to help build excitement around chip industry careers.
![SEMI Korea Ambassador program [Click and drag to move] ](/sites/semi.org/files/styles/large/public/2022-09/Korea_Ambassador_program.jpg.webp?itok=6RwonC73)
Opening ceremony of the SEMI Korea Ambassador program.
Campus Outreach
Fully 1,700 university students (1,400 online and 300 offline) attended Campus Outreach, a five-day program in which semiconductor engineers and human resources representatives from 15 companies offer perspectives on career paths during presentations to university students. The program, which included a live Q&A and mentoring on career paths with human resources managers and semiconductor engineers, was held in hybrid format. The first three days of the event were held online so students living anywhere in Korea could participate, and the final two days were offline at COEX, Seoul, where companies mentored students they were eyeing for employment.
Offline mentoring session at Campus Outreach 2022
Testimonials from SEMI member company human resources representatives that participated in Campus Outreach
“Among the workforce programs offered by SEMI Korea, the SEMI Korea Ambassador program is particularly effective. A group of university student journalists who met with PSK published articles on social media to help educate potential workers on the PSK culture and vision. Campus Outreach is another program that enables to contribute to the development of semiconductor industry talent in an important way. We are grateful to SEMI for allowing us to share career insights with future talent and look forward to continuing to work together in the future.”
Keun Young Yang, PSK
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"Thanks to Campus Outreach, we can meet and communicate with university students who will be our future colleagues. The program was a good opportunity for us to meet future talent, better understand their career aspirations, and introduce KLA. KLA very much understands the importance of talent to the development of next-generation technologies. We thank SEMI for the opportunity to interact directly with students.”
Semin Park, KLA
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“SEMI's workforce development programs target only potential workers who are really interested in the semiconductor industry, making them a very effective way to connect with future talent. And of course, the programs are invaluable resource for HR managers. I sincerely thank SEMI for offering a meaningful program such as Women-in-Technology to expand diversity in Korea’s semiconductor industry.”
Jina Kim, SEMES
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“Being able to meet future talent is a very rare and extremely valuable opportunity. I am grateful to SEMI for enabling these connections and am very satisfied with all aspects of SEMI’s workforce development programs. Dongjin Semichem participates in various SEMI workforce development programs such as the Semiconductor Process Technology Tutorial and conferences. We are always grateful for SEMI's efforts in providing opportunities for us to help college students learn more about the industry and co-workers to strengthen their skills.
Yang Rae Kim, Dongjin Semichem
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“Until now, ASM had no opportunities to meet and communicate closely with future talent. However, SEMI opened a new door for us with its workforce development programs focused on talent who majored in STEM disciplines, so I was able to effectively communicate with students from the HR manager's point of view and help them understand our company and culture.”
SaeBom Park, ASM
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“SEMI's workforce development activities are a new channel of communication and a medium of inspiration that allows us to better understand the career preferences and goals of future talent. Specially, Campus Outreach allowed us to have in-depth conversations with university students, and we were able to provide them with a better brand image and our blueprint. We will continue to cooperate with SEMI to take the lead in developing future talent.”
Kyle Park, Applied Materials
A Look Ahead
New SEMI Ambassadors will be recruited and active until next March 2023, and the SPT Hands-on Training and Semiconductor Process Technology Tutorial will continue. In addition, SEMICON Korea 2023, which will be held February 1-3, 2023, will offer a mentoring program for future talent to plan their career development and a program to improve diversity. As the importance of human resources in the semiconductor industry grows, SEMI Korea will continue to fulfill its role to support industry growth.
SEMI Korea WFD and DEI Programs - Sponsoring Companies
Companies interested in sponsoring SEMI Korea WFD programs can contact Senior Director Hyun Cha of SEMI Korea at jcha@semi.org.
Jaegwan Shim is a marketing specialist at SEMI Korea.