CELEBRATING more than four decades of semiconductor innovation, Micron Technology's journey has been marked by groundbreaking advancements in memory and storage solutions.
The memory-chip maker is proud to play a foundational role in the transformative technology that shapes the world.
And at the core of all this is its people — from all over the world, from all backgrounds and from all experiences — who generate the best ideas to propel Micron's innovation.
In an interview with Business Times, Micron Technology executive vice-president and chief people officer April Arnzen, who is also president of Micron Foundation, said it was committed to continuously expanding the robust talent pipeline.
Arnzen is responsible for leading Micron's people strategy and establishing a culture that embraces performance, growth and inclusion for the global diverse workforce.
She said the company's successes depended on its ability to acquire diverse talents, who were the most important resource and a critical driver of the company's competitive advantage.
"Talent imperative is focused on the talent and workforce of the future. Talent shortage is real, especially for highly skilled, really qualified talent to work in the semiconductor industry. This is even so here in Malaysia.
"And so, Micron has been investing even more in preparing the workforce of the future, partnering primary schools, secondary schools, polytechnics, universities and even community partners to broaden the talent pool."
Arnzen said Micron had been preparing the workforce for the rapid technology advancement by investing in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education and thinking far more innovatively about where to get the talent.
She said apart from encouraging women to return to the workforce (31 per cent of Micron's workforce are women) and taking in new graduates, the company was also looking at the untapped talent pool.
They include retiring army veterans and those who have completed their military service but still have a long career ahead of them.
"We are working on skilling them so that they can have a career with us. We have also partnered with Talent Corporation to develop a programme to bring army veterans into Micron.
"We give them the right skills and the right training to transition into private organisations as it is a different work environment. This will help them integrate into the company with the right skills.
"We hope it will become a really strong talent pipeline for us."
She said Micron would also be rolling out the Micron Chip Camp this year to give students the opportunity to participate in fun activities and get them excited about pursuing STEM education.
She said the last five years had been incredibly challenging, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the "great resignation", talent shortage and then global economic slowdown.
Arnzen said employers now needed to think about building a very agile workforce to tackle the next set of challenges and to attract and retain talent.
"We have to be very focused on building the talent pipeline and building long-term careers so that employees do not feel like they have to change jobs or leave Malaysia.
"We want them here and have a long career with us. We will prepare them for various roles at Micron so that they do not need to go anywhere to grow their career.
"At Micron, we focus on making sure our culture is strong so that they (our employees) feel included... and that they can make an impact. We believe that it is really going to be the key moving forward because there is going to be a lot of changes in the next decade or two.
"This is an opportunity for all of us to become resilient and agile, and to prepare a workforce of the future," she added.
Arnzen said Micron would continue to make strategic investments to secure talent in a tight market, including competitive pay and benefits.
"But it is also about culture and making sure that Micron is their choice, especially among the fresh graduates. They have big expectations and we want to deliver on those expectations.
"Here at Micron, you get to solve real world problems and make an impact in the community."
One such programme is the partnership with Resilient Cities Network (R-Cities) to jointly develop the Penang Resilience Strategy.
"This initiative involves the appointment of chief resilience officers to spearhead resilience initiatives. The partnership between Micron Foundation and R-Cities has gradually increased the awareness on climate risk and its associated impact."
She said the company was also focusing on diversity, equality and inclusion to make sure that employees would feel included and respected.
Micron has also established employee resource groups where staff could learn from one another to improve their skills.
"But we want to make sure what they learn can help them to get to where they want to go.
"We provide learning opportunities so they can gain skills that can help them advance their career," she added.