Electronic Device Manufacturing Workers

How to become a Semiconductor Chip Fabrication Worker

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 半导体芯片制造工

Also called: Epitaxy Operator, Oxidation and Diffusion Operator, Ion Implantation Operator, Chemical Vapour Deposition Operator, Photolithography Operator

Uses equipment such as lithography machines, epitaxy furnaces, deposition systems and high temperature oxidation and diffusion furnaces to make integrated circuits, sensor chips and discrete semiconductor devices.

Main tasks

Purifying gases, distilling silicon tetrachloride and growing epitaxial layers on single crystal wafers with epitaxy furnaces and similar equipment
Growing oxide layers on crystal surfaces, diffusing impurities from the surface inwards or carrying out other heat treatments in high temperature furnaces
Ionising and accelerating dopants and implanting them into the crystal with ion implanters, then annealing to activate them
Depositing thin solid films on the substrate surface with vapour deposition equipment
Patterning mask layers with resist coating and developing equipment, lithography machines and etching equipment
Forming device mesas on wafers with machining and similar equipment and passivating the surface to protect it
Coating wafer surfaces with special thin films using evaporation, sputtering and other vacuum coating equipment
Plating set areas of metal electrodes on wafers, devices, integrated circuits and sensors with plating equipment
Annealing wafers with annealing equipment
Testing wafers on the wafer with test equipment
Thinning, dicing, inspecting and sorting wafers with the right equipment

Pay · AI and this job

Median pay in China: CN¥71,200 a year (2025).
Middle half: CN¥56,600 to CN¥89,200. One in ten earn less than CN¥42,700 and one in ten more than CN¥110,600.
This is the figure for the mid group Computer, Communications and Other Electronic Equipment Manufacturing Workers, not for this job alone.
National figure: wage prices of enterprise employees from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) enterprise pay survey. The public sector and the self-employed are not covered.
Guangzhou only: median CN¥80,746 a year (2025), middle half CN¥50,393 to CN¥99,138.
This is the figure for the mid group Computer, Communications and Other Electronic Equipment Manufacturing Workers, not for this job alone.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

The census group Computer, Communications and Other Electronic Equipment Manufacturing Workers holds 1.88% of everyone employed in China; 41.6% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
57.1% are under 35, 39.7% are 35 to 54 and 3.2% are 55 or older. The middle age band is 30 to 34.
Census figures for the whole mid group (2020 long-form sample), not for this job alone.

Questions people ask

How much does a Semiconductor Chip Fabrication Worker earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥71,200 a year (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS), 2025). The public sector and the self-employed are not covered. It is the figure for the mid group Computer, Communications and Other Electronic Equipment Manufacturing Workers. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥80,746 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Semiconductor Chip Fabrication Worker?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS): 2025 enterprise pay survey information: wage prices of enterprise employees by occupation mid group, and digital occupations (P10 to P90 annual CNY) (2025 (published 2026-07-08)), retrieved 5 October 2026
Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau: Guangzhou 2025 labour market wage prices (P10 to P90 annual CNY by occupation) (2025 (enterprise pay survey)), retrieved 4 October 2026
National Bureau of Statistics of China: China Population Census Yearbook 2020, long-form tables 4-6 and 4-7 (employed by occupation mid group, sex, age) (2020 Census long form (10% sample)), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Sources: Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition, public consultation draft), Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, State Administration for Market Regulation and National Bureau of Statistics; Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, 2025 enterprise pay survey information; Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, 2025 labour market wage prices; National Bureau of Statistics of China (www.stats.gov.cn), 2020 Population Census yearbook; Ministry of Education, vocational education major profiles (2022 revision) and undergraduate major catalogue (2025); Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, national vocational qualifications catalogue (2021); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Figures processed by Peernovo. English text, translations and the matching of occupations to ISCO-08, majors, degree fields and qualifications by Peernovo.

Descriptions and tasks are Peernovo's own words, written from the facts in the Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition). Job titles and work types are the classification's own.

Updated 5 October 2026