In 2026, the global semiconductor industry is approaching the trillion-dollar scale. The explosion of AI computing power has spurred a surge in talent demand, with the expansion of the gap for high-end talents coexisting with rising salaries. This smokeless talent war tests enterprises’ ability to attract and retain talents, determines job seekers’ career track choices, and reflects the urgency and importance of talent system construction in the transformation of China’s semiconductor industry from “scale expansion” to “quality improvement”.
In March 2026, SEMICON China 2026 kicked off at the Shanghai New International Expo Center. This annual grand event in the global semiconductor industry attracted 1,500 semiconductor enterprises from more than 30 countries and regions around the world, covering the entire industrial chain including chip design, manufacturing, packaging and testing, and equipment and materials. Different from previous years, at this year’s exhibition, in addition to core exhibits such as advanced process chips, new packaging technologies and semiconductor equipment, “talent recruitment” became a key layout content of major enterprises’ booths. Many enterprises specially set up talent recruitment areas, sent HR directors and business department heads to give on-site lectures, and even offered an annual salary of 1 million RMB to “snatch talents” on the spot, becoming the most eye-catching scene of the exhibition.
During the same period, salary rumors in the industry continued to spread: NVIDIA offered an annual salary of about 1.78 million RMB for HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) development engineers, accompanied by benefits such as stock options and overseas training; Apple’s NAND product engineer position had an annual salary of up to 2.1 million RMB, requiring 3D NAND flash memory R&D and mass production experience; domestic leading chip enterprises such as HiSilicon and SMIC generally offered an annual salary of more than 1.2 million RMB for design engineers of advanced processes below 5nm, an increase of more than 25% compared with 2025. The talent-snatching offensive of leading enterprises is becoming increasingly fierce, and small and medium-sized chip enterprises have been forced to follow up, raising salaries for core positions one after another. Even so, a large number of high-end positions remain vacant for a long time.
On the one hand, there is the rapid growth of the industry – according to the prediction of WSTS (World Semiconductor Trade Statistics), the global semiconductor market scale will reach 975 billion US dollars in 2026, approaching the trillion-dollar mark, with a year-on-year growth of 26.3%. Among them, the revenue of AI-related chips is close to 500 billion US dollars, becoming the core driving force for the industry’s growth; on the other hand, there is a severe talent dilemma – according to the “2026 China Semiconductor Talent Development Report” released by the China Semiconductor Industry Association, the talent gap in China’s semiconductor industry has reached 200,000, of which the gap for high-end technical talents exceeds 80,000. For core positions such as advanced process design below 5nm, HBM R&D, and 3D packaging, the supply-demand ratio of talents even reaches 1:10. Compound talents with cross-border collaboration capabilities and local industrial experience are even more “hard to find”.
This global semiconductor talent war is not only related to the survival and development of enterprises, but also affects the process of domestic substitution of China’s semiconductor industry. This article will deeply analyze the current situation and trends of the semiconductor talent market in 2026 from four dimensions: industry phenomena, in-depth contradictions, expert perspectives, and breakthrough paths, provide professional references for enterprises to attract and retain talents and job seekers’ career development, and highlight the core value of professional executive search firms in talent matching.
Phenomenon Analysis: Driven by AI + Capacity Expansion, Talent Demand Experiences Explosive Growth
In 2026, the global semiconductor industry stands at a historic crossroads. The large-scale application of AI technology, the rapid penetration of new energy vehicles, and the accelerated advancement of domestic substitution, the superposition of these three factors has driven the semiconductor industry into a period of structural transformation, and talent demand has also experienced explosive growth, showing the distinct characteristics of “total shortage, structural imbalance, and high-end scarcity”.
From a global market perspective, the explosion of AI computing power demand is the core engine driving the growth of semiconductor talent demand. With the rapid development of emerging fields such as generative AI, autonomous driving, and the metaverse, the demand for computing power of high-end chips continues to increase. The production capacity of AI-related chips such as GPU, TPU, and HBM continues to expand, driving a surge in talent demand in related fields. According to the “2026 Global Semiconductor Talent Report” released by Deloitte, the global demand for talents in the AI chip field increased by 68% year-on-year, among which the demand for positions such as HBM R&D, AI chip architecture design, and computing power optimization increased by more than 80%, becoming the segment with the largest talent gap.
At the same time, the global semiconductor capacity expansion continues to advance, and major enterprises have successively increased their investment and layout in China, further amplifying the talent demand. According to the statistics of SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International), the global total sales volume of semiconductor manufacturing equipment will reach 145 billion US dollars in 2026, a year-on-year increase of 10.3%, among which the sales of test equipment and packaging equipment increased by 12.0% and 9.2% respectively. Capacity expansion directly drives the surge in talent demand in manufacturing, testing, packaging and other links. For foreign-funded enterprises in China, leading enterprises such as Samsung, SK Hynix, and TSMC have successively expanded their production capacity in China. The second phase of TSMC’s Nanjing factory and the expansion project of Samsung’s Xi’an memory chip factory have been put into operation one after another. These two projects alone have added more than 3,000 talent demands, of which the demand for high-end technical talents accounts for 40%.
In the domestic market, the expansion of semiconductor production capacity and technological upgrading are advancing simultaneously, forming a talent distribution pattern of “leading by first-tier cities and rising of emerging bases”. First-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, relying on their advantages of improved industrial chains, rich scientific research resources, and high-end industrial clusters, have become core positions for semiconductor talent agglomeration, gathering more than 60% of the country’s high-end semiconductor talents. Among them, Shanghai focuses on advanced process chip design and manufacturing, with a number of leading enterprises such as HiSilicon, SMIC, and Qualcomm China. Talent demand is mainly concentrated in high-end fields such as advanced process design below 5nm and semiconductor equipment R&D; Shenzhen focuses on consumer electronics chip and AI chip R&D, and the talent demand of enterprises such as DJI, ZTE, and MediaTek China remains strong; Beijing, relying on the Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park, focuses on semiconductor materials, chip design and other fields, attracting a large number of scientific research talents and high-end technical talents.
At the same time, emerging semiconductor bases such as Hefei, Suzhou, Wuxi, and Chengdu are accelerating their rise and becoming new growth poles of talent demand. With the drive of enterprises such as Changxin Memory and NIO, Hefei has formed a complete industrial chain from chip design to manufacturing, packaging and testing, and the demand for semiconductor talents in 2026 increased by 75% year-on-year; as the core base of China’s packaging and testing industry, Wuxi is home to leading enterprises such as Jiangsu Changjiang Electronics Technology Co., Ltd. and Tongfu Microelectronics Co., Ltd., with a talent gap of more than 15,000 for advanced packaging talents; Suzhou focuses on the semiconductor materials and equipment fields, with talent demand mainly concentrated in links such as photoresist and semiconductor equipment R&D, increasing by 68% year-on-year. Although these emerging bases are inferior to first-tier cities in terms of talent agglomeration capacity, they are gradually attracting the inflow of high-end talents by virtue of policy support, cost advantages and industrial potential, further amplifying the overall demand for semiconductor talents across the country.
From the perspective of job distribution, the demand for talents in all links of the semiconductor industry chain is showing a growth trend, but it is mainly concentrated in three core areas, with obvious differences in demand structure. First, in the field of chip design, demand is mainly concentrated in segmented directions such as advanced process design, AI chip design, and radio frequency chip design. Among them, the demand for high-end positions such as advanced process design below 5nm and HBM R&D has increased by more than 90%, and talents with more than 3 years of relevant project experience are almost in “short supply”. For example, AI chip architecture design engineers need to have comprehensive knowledge of chip design, algorithm optimization, and computing power scheduling, as well as large-scale mass production experience. Such talents are mostly distributed in leading industry enterprises or scientific research institutions, which are difficult to reach through traditional recruitment channels and have become the core difficulty in enterprise recruitment.
in the field of semiconductor manufacturing, demand is mainly concentrated in positions such as wafer manufacturing, process R&D, and intelligent manufacturing. Among them, the demand for advanced process R&D and intelligent manufacturing positions has increased by more than 90%, and the talent gap is particularly prominent. With the expansion of domestic wafer factory production capacity, enterprises such as TSMC, SMIC, and Changxin Memory have a continuous demand for wafer manufacturing engineers and process engineers. These positions have extremely high requirements for practical operation capabilities, requiring rich production line experience and problem-solving capabilities. However, the number of talents with relevant experience in China is limited, leading to the dilemma that some wafer factories have “completed production lines but lack talents”.
in the field of advanced packaging, demand is mainly concentrated in positions related to high-end packaging technologies such as 3D IC packaging, Chiplet packaging, and fan-out packaging. With the large-scale application of Chiplet technology, the demand for advanced packaging talents has increased by 90% year-on-year. An HR director of a packaging and testing factory in Wuxi said, “At present, there are less than 500 talents with Chiplet packaging experience in China, while the demand of relevant enterprises across the country exceeds 5,000. Even if we offer an annual salary of 800,000 RMB, it is still difficult to recruit suitable candidates.”
The salary market has also shown structural differentiation, and the salary gap between high-end talents and ordinary talents continues to widen. The annual salary of high-end semiconductor talents in core cities such as Shanghai and Beijing generally exceeds 1 million RMB, among which the annual salary of senior chip design engineers with more than 10 years of experience can reach 700,000 to 1.5 million RMB, and the annual salary increase of high-end technical positions such as AI chip design and advanced process R&D exceeds 20%-25%; in the field of semiconductor manufacturing, the annual salary of engineers with advanced process R&D experience can reach 600,000 to 1 million RMB; in the field of advanced packaging, the annual salary of high-end technical talents is generally between 500,000 and 900,000 RMB.
In sharp contrast, the salary growth of ordinary basic positions in the semiconductor industry has stagnated, and even declined. For example, the monthly salary of ordinary operators in the semiconductor packaging and testing field is generally 6,000-8,000 RMB, the same as in 2025; the monthly salary of junior assistant engineers in the chip design field is 8,000-12,000 RMB, with an increase of less than 5%. This salary gap has further intensified the trend of talents gathering in high-end fields and core cities, and also led to the increasingly prominent contradiction between the surplus of talents in ordinary basic positions and the shortage of talents in high-end positions.
In-depth Insight: Behind the Imbalance Between Supply and Demand of Talents, Three Core Contradictions Are Highlighted
The boom in the semiconductor talent market is not accidental, but the result of the superposition of multiple factors such as the rapid industrial development, the lag of the talent supply system, the disconnection between talent training and market demand, and the imbalance of the regional talent ecology. In-depth analysis shows that behind this talent war, there are three core contradictions, which are also the core reasons why many enterprises take the initiative to seek professional executive search services.
The talent training cycle does not match the industrial development speed, and the supply growth rate lags behind the demand growth rate. The semiconductor industry is a typical technology-intensive industry, which has extremely high requirements for the professionalism, practical ability and project experience of talents. A mature semiconductor talent, especially a high-end technical talent, needs long-term training and polishing, and the training cycle is much longer than that of ordinary industries. According to statistics from the China Semiconductor Industry Association, a mature chip design engineer needs 5-8 years of project polishing, including 2-3 years of theoretical study and 3-5 years of practical exercise, to be able to independently take charge of core projects; a process engineer in the field of semiconductor manufacturing also needs 3-5 years of production line experience accumulation to deal with complex production process problems.
However, the development speed of China’s semiconductor industry is far faster than the talent training speed. In the past 5 years, the average annual growth rate of the domestic semiconductor market scale has reached 18%, the average annual growth rate of production capacity expansion has reached 25%, while the average annual growth rate of semiconductor talent supply is only about 10%, and the growth rate of talent supply is far behind the industrial development speed. At the same time, the talent training of semiconductor-related majors in domestic universities has the problem of “emphasizing theory and neglecting practice”. The curriculum setting of universities is disconnected from the actual needs of enterprises. Graduates lack practical ability and project experience, and need 1-2 years of further training by enterprises to be competent for practical work, which further exacerbates the shortage of talent supply.
In addition, the loss of semiconductor talents has also exacerbated the shortage of supply. According to the “2026 China Semiconductor Talent Development Report”, the average annual turnover rate of semiconductor talents in China is 15%, among which the turnover rate of high-end technical talents exceeds 20%. Most of the lost talents flow to leading enterprises or overseas enterprises. The long talent training cycle, slow supply growth rate and high turnover rate, the superposition of these three factors, make it difficult to alleviate the contradiction of the imbalance between supply and demand of semiconductor talents in the short term.
The supply of high-end compound talents is scarce, which is difficult to meet the needs of industrial upgrading. At present, the semiconductor industry is developing towards the dual-drive direction of “AI + semiconductor”, “advanced process + advanced packaging”, and “hardware + software”. The trend of industrial integration is becoming increasingly obvious, which puts higher requirements on the comprehensive ability of talents. Enterprises urgently need compound talents with professional and technical capabilities, cross-border collaboration capabilities, and local policy interpretation capabilities, especially interdisciplinary compound talents of “semiconductor + English + compliance”. Such talents are mostly distributed in leading industry enterprises or scientific research institutions, which are difficult to reach through traditional recruitment channels and have become the core difficulty in enterprise recruitment.
From the perspective of specific positions, the person in charge of advanced process R&D needs to have comprehensive knowledge of physics, chemistry, materials, electronic engineering and other disciplines, as well as production line management, project coordination, cross-border collaboration and other capabilities; AI chip design engineers need to understand both chip design and algorithm optimization, computing power scheduling, and also understand AI application scenarios; semiconductor equipment R&D engineers need to master mechanical design, electronic circuits, software programming and other aspects of knowledge, and also be familiar with semiconductor production processes. Such compound talents need long-term cross-disciplinary learning and practice. The number of such talents independently trained in China is extremely limited, and most of them are “locked” by leading enterprises, making it difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to recruit suitable candidates.
What’s more noteworthy is that with the intensification of international technological blockade, the channels for introducing high-end overseas talents have narrowed, further expanding the gap of high-end compound talents in China. Previously, high-end semiconductor talents in China mainly relied on overseas introduction, especially in fields such as advanced process design and semiconductor equipment R&D, where overseas talents accounted for more than 30%. However, in recent years, overseas countries have strengthened restrictions on the export of semiconductor talents, prohibiting high-end semiconductor talents from working in China, leading to a significant decline in the number of high-end overseas talents introduced to China. In 2026, the number of high-end overseas semiconductor talents coming to work in China decreased by 45% year-on-year. The narrowing of overseas talent introduction channels and the insufficient independent training capacity in China have made the shortage of high-end compound talents more prominent.
The imbalance of regional talent ecology exacerbates the mismatch between supply and demand of talents. The distribution of semiconductor talents in China presents a pattern of “agglomeration in first-tier cities and shortage in emerging bases”. The imbalance of regional talent ecology further exacerbates the problem of talent supply-demand mismatch. First-tier cities, relying on improved industrial chains, rich scientific research resources, high-quality job opportunities and high salary levels, have attracted more than 60% of semiconductor talents in the country, especially high-end talents, most of whom are concentrated in cities such as Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen.
However, emerging semiconductor bases such as Hefei, Suzhou and Wuxi, although they have a large number of talent demands brought about by policy support and capacity expansion, still have shortcomings in talent ecology construction. On the one hand, the scientific research resources of these emerging bases are relatively weak, lacking the support of high-end scientific research institutions and universities, making it difficult to attract high-end talents; on the other hand, the talent supporting facilities in these regions are not perfect, and there is a gap between housing, education, medical care and other resources and first-tier cities, making it difficult to retain high-end talents. For example, a chip enterprise in Hefei offered an annual salary of 1 million RMB to recruit advanced process design engineers, but due to the lack of relevant scientific research resources and talent exchange platforms in the local area, it ultimately failed to recruit suitable candidates.
At the same time, the decision-making cost of cross-city mobility for senior semiconductor talents over 35 years old is high, which further exacerbates the uneven regional distribution of talents. Most of these talents have settled in first-tier cities, with stable families and career development foundations. Cross-city mobility needs to consider multiple factors such as housing, children’s education and spouse’s employment, leading them to be unwilling to work in emerging semiconductor bases. This current situation of uneven regional talent distribution has led to “talent surplus” (ordinary basic positions) in some enterprises in first-tier cities, while “unfilled positions” (high-end technical positions) in some enterprises in emerging bases, forming a serious talent supply-demand mismatch.
In addition, the imperfect talent evaluation system in the semiconductor industry has also exacerbated the contradiction of the imbalance between supply and demand of talents. At present, the evaluation of semiconductor talents in China is mainly based on academic qualifications, professional titles and the number of papers, ignoring the practical ability, project experience and innovative ability of talents. As a result, some talents with rich practical experience but low academic qualifications are difficult to be recognized, while some talents with high academic qualifications but lack of practical experience can obtain high salary treatment. This unreasonable talent evaluation system not only affects the career development of talents, but also makes it difficult for enterprises to recruit talents really meeting the needs.
Expert Perspective: Data and Cases Reveal the Truth of the Talent Market
The contradiction of the imbalance between supply and demand of semiconductor talents has attracted great attention from industry experts, enterprise executives and relevant institutions. Combined with the latest data and practical cases, many industry experts have made in-depth interpretations of the current situation and trends of the semiconductor talent market in 2026, providing professional references for enterprises and job seekers.
Feng Li, President of SEMI China, said in an interview that the growth driver of the global semiconductor industry in 2026 mainly comes from AI chips, new energy vehicle chips and industrial chips, and the capacity expansion of these fields has directly driven the surge in talent demand. “According to SEMI statistics, the global total sales volume of semiconductor manufacturing equipment will reach 145 billion US dollars in 2026, a year-on-year increase of 10.3%, among which the sales of test equipment and packaging equipment increased by 12.0% and 9.2% respectively, and the talent gap for related positions continues to expand. Especially in the field of advanced packaging, with the large-scale application of Chiplet technology, the demand for talents has increased by 90% year-on-year, becoming one of the segments with the largest talent gap.”
Feng Li further pointed out, “The talent gap in China’s semiconductor industry has reached 200,000, of which the gap for high-end technical talents exceeds 80,000. For core positions such as advanced process design below 5nm, HBM R&D, and 3D packaging, the supply-demand ratio of talents reaches 1:10. This current situation of talent shortage not only restricts the development of domestic semiconductor enterprises in China, but also affects the process of domestic substitution of China’s semiconductor industry. In the future, with the deepening of industry-education integration and the improvement of the talent ecology, the growth rate of talent supply is expected to gradually increase, but the contradiction of the imbalance between supply and demand of talents will still continue in the short term.”
Chen Nanxiang, Secretary-General of the China Semiconductor Industry Association, said, “The long talent training cycle, slow supply growth rate and scarcity of high-end compound talents are the core problems of the current talent market. About 100,000 graduates majoring in semiconductor-related majors in domestic universities every year, but less than 30,000 of them can directly be competent for enterprise positions. Most graduates need 1-2 years of further training by enterprises to take up their posts. At the same time, the channels for introducing high-end overseas talents have narrowed, further expanding the talent gap and making the talent war more intense.”
In addition to expert opinions, industry data and actual cases further reveal the truth of the semiconductor talent market. According to the industry talent survey report, the talent gap in China’s chip industry has reached 200,000, among which the number of technical director-level talents with experience in advanced process design below 5nm is less than 100 in the market, while the demand of relevant enterprises exceeds 300, and the contradiction between supply and demand of talents is extremely prominent. According to the “2026 Semiconductor Industry Salary Report” released by Zhilian Recruitment, the average salary of the domestic semiconductor industry reaches 186,000 RMB per year, an increase of 12.3% compared with 2025. Among them, the salary increase of high-end technical positions reaches 20%-25%, the average salary of AI chip design engineers reaches 450,000 RMB per year, and the average salary of advanced process R&D engineers reaches 420,000 RMB per year.
Actual cases can better reflect the intensity of the talent competition. A Hangzhou AI chip startup, focusing on generative AI chip R&D, launched the recruitment of chief architect at the beginning of 2026, requiring candidates to have full-stack design capabilities from algorithms to hardware, large-scale mass production experience, and cross-border project collaboration capabilities, offering a salary of 1.5 million RMB per year plus stock options. However, the recruitment work lasted for 3 months, and finally only a handful of candidates were suitable, most of whom already held core positions in leading enterprises. The enterprise needed to pay a higher salary to attract them to join. The HR director of the company admitted, “High-end AI chip talents are too scarce. Among the candidates we contacted, some have algorithm capabilities but lack hardware design experience, while others have hardware design experience but do not understand algorithm optimization. There are very few real full-stack talents.”
A packaging and testing factory in Wuxi, focusing on the advanced packaging field, planned to recruit 20 advanced packaging R&D engineers in 2026, requiring experience in 3D IC packaging and Chiplet packaging, offering a salary of 600,000-900,000 RMB per year. However, since the recruitment started, only more than 10 resumes that met the requirements have been received, and finally only 3 people were employed, and the remaining positions are still vacant. The R&D director of the company said, “There are less than 500 talents with Chiplet packaging experience in China, while the demand of relevant enterprises across the country exceeds 5,000. The salary we offer is already higher than the industry average, but it is still difficult to recruit suitable candidates. Some positions can only be recruited overseas, but the cost of introducing overseas talents is too high and the cycle is too long.”
To cope with talent loss and attract high-end talents, major enterprises have launched heavy incentive policies. At the beginning of 2026, SK Hynix issued a record performance bonus, which was as high as 2964% of the monthly salary, equivalent to 24 months’ salary for ordinary employees, and the bonus for core technical talents was as high as 4000% of the monthly salary; the semiconductor department of Samsung also issued a bonus of 47% of the total annual salary, and launched a “high-end talent special incentive plan” to provide core technical talents with benefits such as overseas training, housing subsidies, and children’s education subsidies; HiSilicon, a domestic leading enterprise, launched an incentive model of “annual salary + equity + dividend” for high-end chip design talents. The total annual income of core technical talents can exceed 1 million RMB, and at the same time, a clear career development channel is built to provide talents with diversified growth opportunities.
In addition, professional executive search services have played an increasingly important role in semiconductor talent matching. According to statistics, in 2026, 75% of leading enterprises in the domestic semiconductor industry chose to cooperate with professional executive search firms, relying on executive search services to find high-end compound talents, shorten the recruitment cycle and reduce recruitment costs. The HR director of a Shanghai chip enterprise said, “Most high-end semiconductor talents are locked by leading enterprises, and traditional recruitment channels are difficult to reach. With the help of professional executive search firms, we can quickly find candidates who meet the requirements, and the recruitment cycle is shortened from 3 months to 1 month, which greatly improves the recruitment efficiency.”
Career Enlightenment: Breakthrough Paths for Enterprises and Job Seekers, and the Core Value of Executive Search Firms is Highlighted
In the context of the increasingly prominent talent dilemma in the semiconductor industry, professional executive search services, with their core advantages of accuracy, efficiency, confidentiality and compliance, have become the “key starting point” for enterprises to solve recruitment problems. As an institution focusing on executive search services for foreign enterprises in China, we have deepened in the segmented track of new energy, relying on years of industry accumulation to provide full-cycle executive search services for foreign enterprises in China, accurately matching enterprise needs with high-quality talents, helping foreign enterprises quickly realize talent layout, which is also the core reason why many foreign enterprises in China choose to cooperate with us in depth.
Faced with the current situation of the imbalance between supply and demand of semiconductor talents, enterprises and job seekers need to find the right position and make precise efforts to achieve a win-win situation in this talent war. At the same time, as the core bridge for talent matching, professional executive search services can effectively solve the problem of talent supply-demand mismatch, provide professional services for enterprises and job seekers, and become an important support for the healthy development of the semiconductor talent market.
For semiconductor enterprises, to solve the talent dilemma, they need to shift from “snatching talents” to “attracting talents + retaining talents”, build a sound talent introduction, training and retention system, and at the same time rely on the strength of professional executive search firms to accurately find high-end talents and improve recruitment efficiency.
Optimize the recruitment strategy and accurately locate talent needs. Enterprises should abandon the single recruitment standard of “only academic qualifications and only experience”, accurately outline talent portraits according to their own business development needs, and clarify the core requirements of candidates’ professional capabilities, practical experience, cross-disciplinary knowledge and professional quality. For high-end compound talents, academic requirements can be appropriately relaxed, focusing on their project experience and innovative ability; for ordinary basic positions, enterprises can increase the intensity of campus recruitment, build talent training bases in cooperation with universities, intervene in talent training in advance, and shorten the adaptation cycle of campus talents to enterprises. At the same time, enterprises can rely on professional executive search firms to accurately find high-end compound talents, especially those with cross-border collaboration experience and advanced technical capabilities, and use the talent resources and professional capabilities of executive search firms to shorten the recruitment cycle and reduce recruitment costs.
Improve the salary and welfare system to enhance talent attractiveness. Enterprises should optimize the salary structure according to the industry salary level, launch an incentive model of “annual salary + equity + dividend” for core positions, and improve the salary premium of high-end talents. At the same time, improve the welfare system, provide talents with seven insurances and two funds, supplementary medical care, housing subsidies, children’s education subsidies, paid annual leave, overseas training and other benefits, and solve the worries of talents. In addition, enterprises can launch a “core talent special incentive plan” to give additional rewards to outstanding core talents, and improve the sense of belonging and loyalty of talents.
Build a clear career development channel to help talents grow. Enterprises should build a diversified career development channel according to the professional strengths and career plans of talents, providing talents with multiple development directions such as technological R&D, project management and market expansion. At the same time, establish a sound training system, regularly provide talents with professional skills training, cross-disciplinary training, overseas training and other opportunities, and improve the comprehensive ability of talents. In addition, enterprises should create an open, inclusive and innovative corporate culture, encourage talents to innovate, give talents sufficient room for development, and avoid talents leaving due to limited career development.
Deepen industry-education integration and independently cultivate talents. Enterprises should strengthen cooperation with universities and scientific research institutions, build joint laboratories and set up joint courses, integrate the actual needs of enterprises into the talent training process, and cultivate professional talents with practical ability and project experience. At the same time, enterprises can launch an “internship program” to attract graduates majoring in semiconductor-related majors in universities to intern, select outstanding talents through internship assessment, lock in potential talents in advance, and shorten the talent training cycle.
For job seekers, they need to find the right track, make precise efforts to improve their core competitiveness, choose the appropriate employment direction and city according to their own development stage, and at the same time rely on the strength of professional executive search firms to accurately connect with high-quality positions and achieve career leapfrog development.
Find the right segmented track and polish core skills. Job seekers should give priority to choosing popular segmented fields such as AI chip design, HBM R&D, advanced packaging and semiconductor equipment R&D according to their own professional strengths and industry trends. These fields have large talent gaps, high salary levels and broad career development space. At the same time, focus on polishing core skills, supplement relevant professional knowledge and practical experience according to the needs of target positions. For example, AI chip design positions need to focus on mastering skills such as chip design, algorithm optimization and computing power scheduling, and advanced packaging positions need to focus on mastering technologies such as 3D IC packaging and Chiplet packaging to improve their own salary premium.
Ppay attention to the accumulation of project experience and improve practical ability. The semiconductor industry has extremely high requirements for practical ability and project experience. Job seekers should take the initiative to participate in core projects, accumulate practical experience, and avoid “empty talk on paper”. For fresh graduates, they can accumulate project experience and improve practical ability through internships, university-enterprise cooperation projects and other ways; for on-the-job personnel, they can take the initiative to take on core work tasks and participate in cross-departmental projects, accumulate diversified project experience, and improve their own competitiveness.
Cultivate compound capabilities to adapt to the trend of industrial integration. With the increasing trend of industrial integration in the semiconductor industry, compound talents are more and more favored by enterprises. Job seekers should take the initiative to supplement cross-disciplinary knowledge. For example, chip design talents can supplement knowledge such as algorithms and software programming, and semiconductor manufacturing talents can supplement knowledge such as materials and machinery, so as to improve their comprehensive ability and adapt to the needs of industrial development. At the same time, improve English ability, proficiently master English technical literature reading and cross-border communication skills, and lay a foundation for participating in cross-border projects and connecting with overseas teams.
Reasonably choose the city of employment to achieve the matching between career development and regional resources. Job seekers should reasonably choose the city of employment according to their own development stage. For job seekers who pursue high-end development and hope to be exposed to cutting-edge technologies, they can choose first-tier cities such as Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen. These cities have rich industrial resources and more job opportunities, which can provide talents with broad career development space; for job seekers who pay attention to the balance between work and life and pursue stable development, they can choose emerging semiconductor bases such as Hefei, Suzhou and Wuxi. These cities have large talent demand, low competition pressure and low living costs, which can provide talents with more growth opportunities.
For professional executive search firms, they should base themselves on the development trend of the semiconductor industry, give full play to their core advantages of talent resources and professional capabilities, provide accurate and efficient talent matching services for enterprises and job seekers, help solve the problem of talent supply-demand mismatch, and become an important support for the healthy development of the semiconductor talent market. Executive search firms should deeply cultivate the segmented semiconductor track, rely on years of industry accumulation, build a sound high-end talent pool, focus on reserving compound talents in fields such as AI chip design, advanced process R&D and advanced packaging, and at the same time deeply understand the recruitment needs and corporate culture of enterprises, accurately match talents with positions, shorten the recruitment cycle and reduce recruitment costs. In addition, executive search firms should also provide talent retention suggestions for enterprises and career planning guidance for job seekers, help enterprises realize talent retention, help job seekers achieve career development, and become the core bridge between enterprises and job seekers.
In 2026, the semiconductor talent war is essentially a game between industrial upgrading and the talent supply system, as well as a contest between enterprises’ ability to attract and retain talents and job seekers’ core competitiveness. With the continuous penetration of AI technology, the rapid development of new energy vehicles and the accelerated advancement of domestic substitution, the semiconductor industry has broad development prospects, and the strategic value of talents will be further highlighted.
For enterprises, only by abandoning the thinking of “blindly snatching talents”, building a sound talent introduction, training and retention system, optimizing recruitment strategies, improving salary and welfare, building career development channels, and at the same time relying on the strength of professional executive search firms to accurately find high-end talents, can they seize the opportunity in the fierce talent competition and achieve high-quality development of enterprises. For job seekers, only by finding the right track, polishing core skills, accumulating project experience, cultivating compound capabilities, reasonably choosing the city of employment, and relying on the strength of professional executive search firms to accurately connect with high-quality positions, can they seize the industry dividends and achieve career leapfrog development.
In the future, with the deepening of industry-education integration, the improvement of the talent ecology and the improvement of the professional capabilities of executive search firms, the contradiction of the imbalance between supply and demand of semiconductor talents will be gradually alleviated, and the talent market will gradually move towards standardized and healthy development. It is believed that with the joint efforts of enterprises, job seekers and executive search firms, China’s semiconductor talent system will be continuously improved, injecting lasting motivation into the high-quality development of the semiconductor industry, helping China achieve the goal of domestic substitution of the semiconductor industry and take the initiative in the global semiconductor industry competition.
Comments are closed