TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A report titled "Semiconductor Industry Talent White Paper 2023” has revealed high earnings for new graduates in the chip industry.
The report, released by 104 Job Bank on Sept. 5, said that master’s and doctoral degree graduates who entered the semiconductor sector in the last five years have an average monthly salary of up to NT$61,000 (US$1892). This is NT$21,000 higher than the average bachelor graduate.
The figures suggest that having a master's or doctoral degree is key for those wishing to compete for high salaries in the semiconductor industry, per UDN.
The whitepaper also reported that among the average 25,000 job opportunities released per month in the semiconductor industry from January to July 2023, 14,000 welcomed fresh graduates with no work experience, accounting for 56.8%.
Among these opportunities, positions such as electrical engineering technicians (94.7%), assistant engineers (94%), and operators/packaging staff (89.7%) had the highest proportion of jobs open to fresh graduates. This indicates that entering the semiconductor industry through technical or foundational roles is relatively easy.
Conversely, positions such as field application engineers (FAE) (35.4%), domestic sales (35.8%), and quality control/quality control engineers (37.2%) had the lowest proportions of jobs open to fresh graduates. They require industry experience and job seekers with industry connections are preferred.
The report added the average monthly salary in the semiconductor industry for 2023 is NT$56,000, surpassing the overall manufacturing industry average of NT$45,000 and ranking second highest among all industries. The cumulative salary increase from 2010 to 2023 was 35.2%, making it the top industry with the highest wage growth among the top five high-paying industries.
As for the educational requirements for positions that do not specify work experience, 104's data indicated that the job positions with the highest proportion of "high school/vocational school" educational requirements were: welding and cutting technicians, operators/packaging staff, quality control/inspection personnel, and electrical engineering technicians, of which exceed 70% accepted school leavers.
In addition to choosing foundational roles, having vocational skills proved key for high school leavers wanting to enter the semiconductor industry.
The report found that 95% of analog IC design, digital IC design, algorithm engineers, and hardware research and development engineer roles list "master's or doctoral degrees" as their educational requirements. These positions require specialized theoretical knowledge and are considered high-value roles.
Different educational backgrounds result in varying starting salaries in the semiconductor industry. The report showed that for job-seekers who graduated within the last five years, a first-time job in the semiconductor industry pulled in an average monthly salary of NT$31,000 for high school/vocational school graduates.
The study also demonstrated that college graduates in the semiconductor industry have an average monthly salary of NT$40,000. This is lower than the overall manufacturing industry average of NT$45,000.
