Overview

Competition for talent in the semiconductor industry is fierce, and retention of new talent is very important. To assist new hires adapt to their new roles with confidence, UMC established the UMC Equipment Academy in 2022, which provides more detailed training

In the era of labor shortage, it is difficult to find and retain talent. Especially in the semi-conductor industry, where the technology, professional division of labor, and process equipment are constantly upgraded, training is the key to helping new recruits acclimate and ensure they are equipped for their roles. The UMC Equipment Academy, established in October 2022, is designed to shorten the onboarding time for newcomers. Through practical skill application and enhancing judgment abilities, the program can enhance the sense of accomplishment and confidence of incoming engineers.

The UMC Equipment Academy, located at Fab 12A in the Southern Taiwan Science Park, offers both theoretical and practical courses in the areas of electronic instrumentation, electronic components, piping components, transmission components, vacuum components, filtration components, temperature control systems, and sensors, so that new equipment engineers can develop basic skills and shorten their learning curves.

Today’s equipment engineers have diversified backgrounds; they are no longer only graduates of traditional electronic, electrical, or mechanical related disciplines, so there is inevitably a gap between their studies and work applications. Even if a newcomer has studied a related subject or has experience in the industry, semiconductor manufacturing processes advance rapidly, and education or past experience may not be able to keep up with the latest generation’s specifications. Additionally, in the past, each unit trained new engineers on its own, using OJT (On the Job Training) and opportunity education, which taught basic concepts and related skills in a rather one-sided and fragmented manner. Therefore, new hires may easily feel frustrated when they lack certain application knowledge or find that they do not have a good grasp of the functions and mechanisms of the equipment.

In order to prevent situations where newcomers have to run before they can walk, the academy's curriculum is more in-depth and detailed, so that new recruits can learn all of the basic skills first and build a good foundation to confidently face the various challenges of the production line. In addition to integrating training materials from all UMC fabs to produce standardized teaching materials and tools, the Equipment Academy also has professional instructors with an average of 15 years of experience, including five full-time instructors, seven part-time module instructors, and one professional instructor, who design diversified courses based on the principles of systematization, standardization, and professionalism. Through the process of hands-on practice and learning assessment, the program ensures that newcomers can assimilate and apply their professional skills to meet job requirements.

In order to expand the depth and breadth of the courses and to be more relevant to field applications, the overall training is divided by application areas and trainee qualifications. For application areas, there are four different stages: FAB Basic Course, ERI Professional Course, FOC Basic Course, and FAB Advanced Course. Trainees are also grouped according to their qualifications: Equipment engineers with up to 1 year of experience (including interns), PM assistant engineers, engineers with up to 3 years’ experience, and engineers with up to 6 years’ experience. These courses are designed to meet the needs of the trainees in terms of their enhanced professional skills. Basically, new equipment engineers within 1 year of enrollment are required to attend the foundation course, and as of the end of April 2023, 12 sessions have been held and about 150 people have completed the training. Advanced courses, such as autonomous maintenance techniques and the requirements of each module, will be launched in 2023, helping equipment engineers to learn with deeper machine operation principles and maintenance skills.

Taiwan plays an important role in the global semiconductor industry, and as UMC continues to expand its production, the cultivation and retention of quality equipment engineers has become particularly important. Through the establishment of the Equipment Academy, UMC can enhance new engineers’ initial understanding of the principles and functions of semiconductor equipment components, shorten the gap between learning and application, and allow newcomers to seamlessly transition into their roles. Additionally, machine equipment is the cornerstone of semiconductor production and is a vital part of the Company’s operations. Therefore, cultivating equipment engineers can enhance equipment self-maintenance ability and strengthen the resilience of the Company’s operations. For Fab 12A, where the Equipment Academy is located, the scale of in-house parts maintenance in 2022 was expected to grow by approximately 35% compared to 2021. With the help of the Equipment Academy to train engineers, UMC has also set a goal to continue to increase the percentage of equipment self-maintenance at an annual growth rate of 20%.

In the future, the UMC Equipment Academy is expected to train 600 equipment engineers annually, and the program will be extended to other UMC facilities starting in 2023. Through the courses and the experience shared during the process, the Company is enabling career development of its engineers while enhancing corporate competitiveness. At the same time, this program can also contribute to the development of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry.