Chip players open more doors for ITE students despite mixed views on industry
MOUs signed to give ITE students more opportunities to work with semiconductor companies
Benicia Tan
SEMICONDUCTOR companies in Singapore are still set to recruit, despite mixed views on the industry’s outlook, said Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association (SSIA) executive director Ang Wee Seng at a student outreach event on Wednesday (Jan 24).
He was speaking at the annual Electronics Industry Day organised by SSIA, where four memoranda of understanding (MOUs) were signed to give Institute of Technical Education (ITE) students more opportunities to work with semiconductor players.
More than 2,000 participants, including students from institutes of higher learning, secondary schools and industry professionals, attended the event, alongside 32 participating semiconductor companies.
“Opinions on the semiconductor market are unfortunately mixed,” said Ang, referring to a survey of Electronics Industry Day participants. The consensus is that the industry will perform better in 2024 than in 2023, but “some see a potential slowdown, while many others expect a stronger second half of the year”, he noted.
Nonetheless, “these companies all have plans to recruit at least within the next quarter to a year”, he added, with growing demand for talent in the areas of artificial intelligence and data.
ITE signed four separate three-year MOUs with semiconductor manufacturers GlobalFoundries Singapore, Micron Technology and STMicroelectronics, as well as the Agency for Science, Technology and Research’s Institute of Microelectronics.
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GlobalFoundries chief manufacturing officer Ang Kay Chai said: “We must recognise the need to grow our talent pipeline, and we must forge strong partnerships with our local educational institutions such as ITE to develop our sector.” (See *Amendment note)
Under the MOUs, the semiconductor players will offer student internships, work attachments for ITE staff and joint projects. In total, 500 students are expected to benefit over the next three years.
GlobalFoundries, Micron Technology and STMicroelectronics will continue to support ITE’s work-study diploma in microelectronics, which was introduced in 2019.
ITE has separate collaborations with STMicroelectronics and the Institute of Microelectronics to develop virtual reality training packages and simulations, providing an immersive way for students to learn about semiconductor equipment maintenance and manufacturing processes.
*Amendment note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Ang Kay Chai is chief manufacturing officer of GlobalFoundries Singapore. He is chief manufacturing officer of GlobalFoundries.
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