Before Dang Nhut Hao came to Taiwan, he knew nothing about semiconductors.
Grown up in Dong Tap – Dun, a South Vietnam province of the Mekong Delta famous for its rice fields, redhead cranes dotted with lottery tickets, and lakes, loved biology and in 2019 one of Ho Chi Minh City’s most famous undergraduate science programs. But his family couldn’t afford tuition fees. At the age of 18, Dan received a loan of 80,000 new Taiwanese dollars ($2,450) and flew to Taipei to participate in a work study program in semiconductor and electro-optic engineering.
“The cost of living and tuition here is higher than in Vietnam, but I was able to make money myself, pay everything myself and support myself,” said Dan, who graduated. I spoke to the world of
Dan has been adopted in his work study program since 2017 and is one of thousands of teenagers from Southeast Asia who have taken factory jobs in Taiwan’s booming semiconductor sector. Tiny Island supplies 63% of the world’s semiconductors. This is the chip that runs everything from LED bulbs to smartphones, electric vehicles and artificial intelligence models. According to a report by Pricewaterhousecoopers, the industry is growing rapidly, with revenues expected to reach $1 trillion by 2030, from $203 billion in 2023.
Very, very little time spent at school – sometimes less than two days a week.
This has created a large and often under-fulfilling demand in Taiwan for semiconductor manufacturers or fab workers. According to Taiwanese recruitment company 104 Job Bank, there were 26,000 job openings in the second half of 2024.
One way to bridge this gap is to recruit intermediate and high school graduates to vocational high schools and universities in Taiwan, primarily from Southeast Asia. Approximately 35,924 students were recruited for these programs in all fields, including STEM, in the five years leading up to 2022, according to the latest data available from the Ministry of Education and the Council on Regional Affairs of Overseas.
A recent report from Control Yuan, a government agency acting as education experts and watch doctors, found that students in these programs become low-paid labor and headed at factories under the guise of “practical training.” I’m working hours. Some schools intentionally leave gaps in schedules for students to work, blurring the line between work research and part-time work, the report says.
After graduation, students can find it difficult to move from the field to high-end engineering positions without further education.
“I spent very little time at school – sometimes less than two days a week, or sometimes less than a day,” he said. “What is the reality? Most of their time is spent on work.”
The National Science and Technology Association of Private Universities and Universities, and Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Association, which represents the Institute of Vocational Research, did not respond to a request for comment.
Dan arrived in Taiwan under the Industrial Association’s programme, part of the 2016 initiative by then President Tsai ing-wen. To reduce his dependence on China and boost his relationship with his neighbors.
He enrolled at Minghsin Science and Technology University, one of Taiwan’s largest technology universities, located in Hsinchu’s Electronics Hub, to earn his four-year bachelor’s degree. In his first year, he said he mainly studied Mandarin. In his second year, he and his 31 classmates were bused in Miaoli, a small county south of Hsinchu. At the LED factory owned by Everlight Electronics, Dang was taught to operate five machines that cut and package the semiconductor chips used in LEDs.
Such internships meet critical needs in the semiconductor industry where production lines cannot close 24/7, Weberchon, senior vice president at 104 Job Bank, told LEST OF WORLD.
He said operators work on the shifts, monitor production, calibrate the machines and troubleshoot when issues arise. If the machine malfunctions, refer to the technical manual for diagnosing and repairing the problem. It’s an accurate task as modern chips operate at the nanoscale and even the smallest defects can cause failure.
Dan learned that this trade works six days a week and lives in the factory dorms. He said the minimum monthly wage at the time was paid 23,800 new Taiwanese dollars ($724), equal to the operator’s entry-level salary, and the money went to his tuition and student loans.
He spent his third year on campus. In his fourth year he returned to the factory to maintain the machine.
“In college, if you were talking about learning truly technical or scientific skills, you couldn’t learn much because of time constraints,” recalls Dan, now 23. “We were in class or at work so we didn’t have time to study properly. Most of the time, the classes were short and were only enough to complete the assignment. Then we had to go back to work. It had to be.”
Minshin University recruits approximately 2,600 international students each year. University vice president Hsin-Te Liao brings more than 60% through the Industrial Association’s collaboration program. He said most are from Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia.
“We are recruiting international students based on the needs of the companies we work with,” he said.
According to Riao, companies are primarily demanding students from Vietnam and the Philippines. After students graduate, businesses want to retain them as employees.
According to the recruitment documents, companies affiliated with vocational training schools include ASE Holdings, Powertech Technology, and Siliconware Precision Industries. They are part of the supply chain of major tech companies, including Nvidia and Apple.
Dan said some of his classmates remained at Everlight as maintenance workers or predecessors. Others have found work as electronics operators, he said. Some have returned to their home countries.
Dan was one of five students who decided to study further.
Everlight did not respond to requests for comment. The Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association and the Taiwan IC Industry & Academic Research Alliance, which represents the semiconductor industry, were not supported.
The influx of students into Taiwan is expected to increase as the government announced plans to invest $160 million to attract 320,000 students to the STEM, finance and semiconductor sectors by 2030.
In college, if you were talking about learning truly technical or scientific skills, you couldn’t learn much due to time constraints.
Some young graduates, age 15, are recruited through the “3+4 Vocational Education Program.”
These included Ryan Hartno, who left Medan, Indonesia at the age of 16 as part of a three-year vocational high school programme, and later had a bachelor’s degree in electronics engineering from Chen Siu University in Kaohsiung. . Every three months, Hartono found himself in the fab in southern Taiwan and grabbed a digital measuring tool that was less than the iPhone, he told Lest of World.
Hartono’s tasks revolved around the production line of Walsin Technology Corporation. The company manufactures semiconductor passive components installed on Intel computer processors and AI servers for Microsoft and Google.
Hartono measures multi-layer ceramic capacitors and chip resistors above a few centimeters to ensure they meet the strict standards set by designers and engineers. He also operated the machines that made these components, he said.
“It’s like a one-sided, simple job,” recalls Harutono, now 25.
In university, Hartono worked in the same factory for five days with two days of rest. It’s the only time he can study. Most of his classmates have graduated to skilled jobs as electronics factories and fab operators, he said.
Such research scholar programs put students at a disadvantage in engineering work, says Shangmao Chen, a government-sponsored curriculum reviewer of the Institute of Occupational Research and professor at Fo Guang University, has stated that Shangmao Chen, a professor at Lest of I spoke to World.
“Most of their internship jobs are honestly very low-level. They’re basically operator-level work,” he said. “So, after graduation, it’s rare for these students to have the opportunity to advance into engineering positions.”
Both Cheng Shiu and Minghsin University did not respond to requests for comment on whether their program blurs the boundaries between internship and labor.
Most of their internship jobs are very low level. …It’s basically an operator level task.
After graduation, Hartono was hired as a low-level engineer at Yageo Corporation, a supplier of chip components used in AI training. He later moved to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) where he wears a bunny suit every morning to maintain an ion implant machine that imparts electrical properties to the semiconductor.
Apart from his usual times, he works once a week a month, every two months, one week of night shifts. Shift work is common in maintenance and operational roles and is usually fulfilled by graduates of vocational schools, said Chong of 104 Job Bank. Hartono said he was happy with his job and did not consider a role for more advanced research and design.
“It’s not long since I’ve been involved. I feel my role is to first understand my job well and contribute to the department in some way,” he said.
Dan is aiming to do advanced semiconductor research and is back at his alma mater to complete his master’s degree. He wants to work in Taiwan for at least three years before he could return to Vietnam.
He does not regret choosing a job research program, he said. It opened up new opportunities, including taking part in a master’s program in semiconductor engineering and part-time research internships.
“I think I’m very fortunate and I’ve been able to move to a semiconductor field,” he said.
