BEIJING (Realist English). Chinese chip makers scramble for semiconductor talent, showering fresh graduates with offers. This is reported by the South China Morning Post.
“Students who will graduate from the school in July have already secured their offers… We plan to go on our talent hunts in August or September for students who will graduate next year.” said Wang Min, a manager at a Guangzhou-based car chip maker.
China’s official jobless rate for 16- to 24-year-old workers reached a record high of 18.2 per cent in April.
Postgraduates who majored in integrated circuits, microelectronics or computer science from the top Chinese schools, known as 985 and 211 universities, can sometimes secure four or five offers before their graduation, according to semiconductor headhunters and industry professionals. These in-demand graduates are seeing pre-tax annual packages up to 500,000 yuan ($75,000), along with other perks such as stock options.
Horace Sun, founder at Shanghai-based semiconductor headhunter Ontop Consulting points out: “An annual salary of 400,000 to 450,000 yuan has become a normal level for postgraduates hired by Chinese semiconductor design firms”.
In 2021, about 70 per cent of Chinese semiconductor firms tried to recruit fresh graduates, an increase of 20 per cent year on year, according to Fuxing Tech, a school hiring services provider affiliated with the Shanghai-based Human Resources Association of the Semiconductor Industry.
China’s semiconductor industry – comprising design, foundry, and testing and packaging – employed a total of 540,000 people as of October 2021, according to data from the China IC Industry Talent Development Report. Compiled by the China Semiconductor Industry Association and the Human Resources Association of the Semiconductor Industry, the report predicted China would face a talent gap of 200,000 people in the 2022-2023 period because industry-wide demand for talent would grow to 760,000 people.
