According to Jiwei.com, Japanese semiconductor equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron (TEL) recently stated that it will increase the starting monthly salary of new employees by about 40% to ensure talent by aligning their salaries with foreign counterparts.

TEL plans to recruit about 400 new graduates this spring, 50 more than last year, and increase the number of new employees to 500 over several years. At the same time, TEL will increase the wages of all new employees by 85,500 yen. University graduates who join the company in April 2024 will receive 304,800 yen (approximately 15,340 yuan) per month, while those with higher degrees will receive 320,000 yen (approximately 16,000 yuan), which is Tokyo Electron's first payment in seven years. First-time salary increase for new employees.

"To acquire talent, we aim to raise salary levels to be on par with foreign counterparts," a TEL source said.

Many foreign equipment and semiconductor manufacturing companies operating in Japan offer starting salaries of more than 300,000 yen to those with a college degree.

For example, Applied Materials in Japan offers a starting salary of 370,000 yen for fresh college graduates, Lam Research has a starting salary of about 300,000 yen, and Micron Technology, which has a factory in Hiroshima, has a starting salary of 370,000 yen. The salary is about 310,000 yen.

Japan is currently seeking to provide subsidies to stimulate the development of the semiconductor manufacturing industry. TSMC's Kumamoto plant plans to start production at the end of 2024, while Rapidus, the "national team" supported by the Japanese government, seeks to complete and trial production of 2-nanometer chips in its Hokkaido plant in 2025. As investment in research and production increases, competition for talent naturally heats up.

TEL has raised salaries and bonuses year after year due to its strong business performance. The financial report shows that the company's average annual salary as of March 2023 is 13.98 million yen, an increase of 3.22 million yen compared with the year ended in March 2018.

According to a survey by Japan's National Personnel Bureau in the spring of 2023, the average starting salary for college graduates in Japan's private companies is about 210,000 yen, and that for those with higher education is 230,000 yen.

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