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7,000 Pmets in the Wafer Fabrication Industry to benefit from a new Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) System Framework
JOINT MEDIA RELEASE
31 August 2009
1 With the development of a new Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) system for the wafer fabrication industry, some 7,000 PMET workers including engineers and skilled technicians can look forward to being trained and certified with nationally recognised skills. This is a result of concerted efforts by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA), the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), the Employability and Employment Institute (e2i) and the United Workers of Electronic and Electrical Industries (UWEEI), to help companies in the wafer fabrication industry enhance their competitiveness and workforce productivity. With continuous upgrading, both employers and employees can ride on the gradual economic recovery and be ready for the upturn ahead.
2 The six major players in the wafer fabrication industry - Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd., Numonyx Pte Ltd, STMicroelectronics Pte Ltd, Systems on Silicon Manufacturing Co Pte Ltd, United Microelectronics Corporation (Singapore branch), and TECH Semiconductor Singapore Pte Ltd have agreed to align their in-house training programmes to meet the national standards of the Wafer Fabrication WSQ. Together with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and UWEEI, the companies collectively make up the Wafer Fabrication Industry Skills and Training Council (ISTC) which advises WDA on the training standards, pathway and implementation of WSQ for the wafer fabrication industry. (For details of the WSQ qualification, please refer to Annex A.)
3 As a reflection of their commitment, these six companies and the tripartite partners have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony today. For a start, engineers of these six wafer fabrication companies can now be cross-trained and undertake a wider job scope, enabling companies to deploy them to other work areas, hence improving productivity.
4 Dr Mao Bor-Yen, Manufacturing Operations General Manager of STMicroelectronics Pte Ltd said, “Through this framework, we will enhance skills and competencies of our employees, provide better skills & career growth for employees and thus attract more talents into the industry.” For management quotes from the other five participating companies, please refer to Annex B.
5 NTUC Deputy Secretary-General, Mdm Halimah Yacob said, “The union fully supports the newly established wafer fabrication WSQ as it is a good start to enhance the employability of PMETs. The decision to offer nationally recognised qualifications also minimises the occurrence of duplicate training when PMETs move within the industry. With a more competitive and responsive workforce, this will greatly help Singapore to continue to attract new investments in area of new technologies when the economy recovers.” Mdm Halimah Yacob is also the executive secretary of UWEEI.
6 Chief Executive of WDA, Mr Chan Heng Kee said, “The development of the Wafer Fabrication WSQ is in line with WDA’s expansion into new sectors to enhance industry competitiveness. The wafer fabrication industry is well-known for its extensive use of technology and robust in-house training. The fact that these six companies have adopted the Workforce Skills Qualifications System, or WSQ, is a vote of confidence for the relevance of the system.”
7 WDA and the industry will be actively reviewing the collaboration so that more companies across the semiconductor industry can participate once this first phase of collaboration is completed.
ANNEX A
Factsheet
Wafer Fabrication Workforce Skills Qualifications
(A) About the Wafer Fabrication Industry
The semiconductor industry is a key contributor to Singapore’s manufacturing sector and the fastest growing segment in electronics. It generated S$37.3 billion in revenues in 2008, accounting for 55% of total electronics manufacturing output. Wafer Fabrication constitutes the front-end activities in a semiconductor production.
Singapore is the number two fabrication city after Hsinchu, Taiwan and the number six nation after the United States, China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea. Notably, Singapore accounts for nearly 11% of the global semiconductor output and generates 10% of global foundry wafer output.
In 2008, the semiconductor industry employed more than 40,000 people and contributed about S$7.8 billion in manufacturing VA (value-added). Of the 40,000 people, about 40% or 16,500 are in wafer fabrication. Generally around 55% of the workforce possesses diplomas and above qualifications. These workers will typically enter at either Assistant Engineers or higher positions depending on their qualifications.
According to the Economic Development Board (EDB)’s business sentiments for the rest of 2009, within the manufacturing industry, electronics is the most optimistic for the second half of 2009, with a net weighted balance of 24 per cent of firms expecting business conditions to improve. This optimism is broad-based as most of the segments foresee higher orders and exports in the next few months. The electronics and general manufacturing industries also expect higher levels of production in the third quarter of 2009 resulting from increased orders and seasonal factors respectively.
(B) Wafer Fabrication Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ)
To sustain the competitiveness of this sophisticated and technologically-advanced industry, the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and the six major players in the industry namely,
- Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. (Chartered)
- Numonyx Pte Ltd (Numonyx)
- STMicroelectronics Pte Ltd (ST)
- Systems on Silicon Manufacturing Co. Pte Ltd (SSMC)
- TECH Semiconductor Singapore Pte Ltd (TECH) and
- United Microelectronics Corporation (Singapore Branch) (UMC)
jointly developed the Wafer Fabrication WSQ. The collective industry commitment expedited the development of the WSQ within a short span of three months.
With the roll-out of the Wafer Fabrication WSQ, training that was predominantly conducted in-house with proprietary content is now aligned to national standards, facilitating a common industry understanding of the skills a worker has to perform specific jobs in the wafer fabrication industry. The WSQ certification gives companies the assurance that when they recruit new workers, the candidate who is WSQ trained, has the right skills for the job. For workers, they can obtain national qualifications instead of mere in-house certification. Such qualifications will enhance their portability when they move within the industry.
Nationally benchmarked and accredited competency standards are also available for the first time to up-skill engineers with degree qualifications, a group affected in the downturn. For a start, engineers can be cross-trained to undertake a wider job scope, allowing companies to deploy them to other work areas in situations of excess manpower or manpower shortage.
In the longer term, by aligning common aspects of their training to the WSQ, companies can achieve consistency in training outcomes and minimise the occurrence of duplicate training. When incorporated with HR practices, particularly in the areas of recruitment, training and development, companies can improve the professionalism and capabilities of their workers.
The Wafer Fabrication WSQ is currently piloted at these six companies. Companies will enjoy absentee payroll and training allowances for every worker trained.
(C) Certification available in the Wafer Fabrication WSQ
The Certified Wafer Fabrication Engineer certification is the only qualification currently available with specialisation across six tracks namely process, equipment, integration, facility, quality and production.
The WSQ “Certified Wafer Fabrication Engineer” certification can be obtained via the Training and Assessment Pathway or Assessment-Only-Pathway. For Assessment-Only-Pathway, trainees undertake assessment without going through training. This helps to save time and resources if trainees already have the necessary prior experience and skills and just need to certify their skills.
To attain the “Certified Wafer Fabrication Engineer” certification via the Training and Assessment Pathway, a trainee has to attain 10 Statement of Attainments (SOAs):
1. Apply Semiconductor Good Manufacturing Practices
2. Apply Environmental Health and Safety Practices
3. Implement Statistical Process Control
4. Manage Semiconductor Manufacturing Execution System
- Sector Elective Units (1)
1 out of 4 sector electives
1. Manage Personal and Team Effectiveness
2. Manage Problem Solving
3. Manage Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
4. Manage Design of Experiments (DOE)
- Specialisation Elective Units (5)
Minimum 2 electives from Process / Quality / Production tracks; and minimum 3 electives from Equipment / Integration / Facility tracks.
