Hi folks, need to hear your feedback on my career pathway.
Currently 28, M, will be 29 next year and officially 5th year into this Semiconductor Industry, with my EEE degree back in 2021...

Currently kind of been stagnant, hopeless with my career, and its bottleneck in my current company.
Initially, joined famous CPU Blue Company as Graduate Trainee at aged 24 - as a Post Silicon Functional Validation engineer in Q2 2021, salary was RM 3,300.

Then 2022, company revised to RM 4k as Graduate Trainee, up until my 1 year contract at May 2022.
Dumbo me, decided to join back the company into another Business Unit, as a "Analog Circuit Design Engineer" at RM 4.24k @ 6% increase. Instead of finding job opportunities in Singapore.

In 2024, after stuck with near 2 years of RM 4.24k, throughout the 3+ years within the Department, been waiting to get laid off or getting a package. But sadly didn't happened so much.

Then manager, finally manage to promoted me to Grade 5, my salary jumped from RM4.24k to RM 5.126K (about 20.9% increase) but tbh, I feel abit low since the company didn't not gave annual increament for the 2 years in 2023 and 2024.

Start of the year 2025, everyone ganed a 10% increase in , then after 3.5% increase after perfomrance review in April.

Effectively, my currently base salary is RM 5,836.14 @ Grade 5 to current date.

Currently I am comtemplating continuing this career in Semiconductor Field, if my Salary is this low compared to what everyday Malaysia advertising this career to be "highly paid".

Also I've been struggling for ~4 years being here in this department, as I feel I am only able to basic "bounded" box things, and didn't really gained any new skills throughout my time being in my department...

Everything is quite restricted, otherwise above my "paygrade" or limited by my knowledge gap in Analog Circuits. Want to proceed further, but the task assigned to me is too time consuming and doesn't really provide any valuable growth. Until I don't have motivation to proceed onwards... Also company resources are getting more restricted.

I wanted to try jumping to Singapore's Semiconductor, atleast the pay is better. But I'm not sure they willing to hire me at what role

Otherwise, is stuck in this company, until other company is offering better pay and proper guidance and training.

Was thinking to getting a Masters in Microelectronics, but hardly have Masters Degree which only offers coursework without Thesis work...
But not sure how much value this could really help to upskill me.

Worst case, if totally do a career change, and explore Software programming role.

why not jump to AMX ?
if so many years you are stagnant there mean
1. your department lack of opportunity
2. your manager not doing good job
3. you are not competent with what you are doing.

consider jump or change your field

This post has been edited by ahchun: Dec 15 2025, 08:35 PM

Go apply singapore job
High pay.

U worry too much, u just need to take the 1st step.
You are well aware of your current situation, repeating the same thing everyday won't make tomorrow different.
Just apply for jobs and get yourself into interview, interview is free, it cost nothing, then you will find out more about yourself in the market.

Truth is semicon is becoming more and more saturated.... its getting way too hyped up by government and everyone. A lot of graduates now shifting from mechanical / chemical / electrical engineering and even computer science to IC design.. There will be way more graduates coming out that will be willing to take your job for 5k. If you think you worth more than 6k then why not just go for interview and see if any company willing to offer you? With more graduates and talents coming out.... companies now also have a choice to low ball.

more and less same salary like what ppl earning at 32 years old around 2016.
looks like you doing much better.... near 6k...at 29y yo...

ahhh... when fresh grads at smaller players already RM 6k.
Also, Singkie also SGD5k.

Either way , both equally screwed being in this MNCs.

32 year old in 2016 - RM 6k, can do much more than RM 6k now in 2025...

No internal opening?
Please explore first before jump to another company.

I just got a promotion thru opening with 30% increment (including performance bonus) last week.

just curious, how much better?
fresh grad degree, now earning around 2k only...
also hard to get a position that fits their qualification...

ahhh for E&E, it's RM 4k-5k for MNCs from Huawei, WD, Intel, AMD...
So I don't know this 2k you referring to Singkie $2k or our RM 2k Engineering Degree?

Given company "Internal" Transfer, within Limited Departments now compared to Big Blue CPU company.
I doubt I made it to the jump. Everyone working on the same project now. If the project flops, all sink ship together in my prespective.

Should have went to Software Engineering role

3-5% in MNC annual increment is very normal actually :X if you expect jump every 10% per annum by the time you retire, you already earn 1 mil a month :X

I suggest you have a open talk with your superior (HOD) and above regarding to this salary issue.

Invite them to discuss.
Ask and know how to the company increment/ salary policies because i knew internal transfer does not have special increment and increment only happen 1Q of finance year. Mean your superior can't simply promise your adjustment salary in next month.

Then offer them 3 increment options.
1) If hit quantitively target then i will get % (min %)
2) If hit quantitively target then i will get % (your expectation %)
3) If i can't hit any target/ KPI then follow company increment rate.

If both of your superior doesn't agree on your proposal at all, then you may start to explore others opportunity.
Good luck. You need more evidence from your work to show them.

i see, MNC still maintains the premium rate for freshies.
yup, engineering degree, unfortunately.
the job market is so messy out there.
noticed many qualification mismatches taken by graduates

Much worst is from IPTS, degree now costs RM 90k++ for mid-tier Engineering Degree....
If you are from IPTA, you see "RM 2k" still acceptable payment if Degree overall costs is RM 20k.
But for IPTS man.... its fucked up

Alot of my peers already transition to Software Engineers roles or go divert to Electrical Engineering roles because the pay is shit, if do regular engineering.
Also, Semiconductor Engineers are the most worst place for Fresh Grad to be ended up as for Electronics Engineers.

Role is niche, company doing this fields are limited, and long working hours just to deal with badly documentation items
penat lah. Somemore knowledge used are not transferable.

This post has been edited by iSean: Dec 17 2025, 03:28 PM

Good luck, MNCs all report back to HQ in US, in regards to Salary.
Considering company financial status. I doubt they do it, already highlighted this to my Department's Director.

Even US Engineering VP / Top Management came to the company for Town Hall, have no "power" to argue for our salaries.
They rather us to resign, rather than giving layoff packages now. imho

This post has been edited by iSean: Dec 17 2025, 03:32 PM

in the end, see how lucky are you lorr...
anything good/ bad can happen... just keep holding on...

how "lucky" as in how I see this glass of half-filled/emptied water.

I would say try looking for roles abroad if you can, due to the terrible job market locally. (I might be very biased)

If you want to upskill through taking a Master's degree, try doing one that can give you hands-on experience.

I work in digital IC verification in Taiwan. Most of my friends in analog field are doing very well because analog design requires a lot of know-how. Tho they all have Master's degrees and have experience in tapeouts before even graduating.

The market is pretty bad back home in comparison, but parents keep pestering me to go back to MYS (I do understand they miss me) due to all the talks about the overly optimistic NSS/IC park news, lol.
I'm like, no chance, man, it is not even close. Maybe possible to get a matching package at SG, but I would definitely save less there.

IINM, we were in the same cohort/year at college(pre-u).

Godspeed

Sup bro. Yup we were in the same college.

Well, yeah will definitely take the overseas job opportunity, if given the chance, but most likely working in other roles in IC Design... or Post-Silicon Validation work...

I'm not familiar with the Taiwanese Job Market, but do you guys get paid quite well? Compared to our Malaysians peanuts salary?
Personally I didn't favor Taiwan, US-China Tension right now. And I kinda buta-huruf on Traditional Chinese Characters.

You mentioned "Having Experience in Tapeouts before even graduating." Most likely is working in those SME which chun out designs real fast within 1-2 Quarters...
Can take part in the process, but not sure whether if normal Malaysian Graduates can even do any "heavy lifting" in the design department
Analog definitely needs alot of intuitive knowledge... Which Malaysia Uni Degree won't cover... and really luck dependent whether you are able to pick up the knowledge.

Ah personally, if you ask me, if you managed to jump outside of Malaysia, just stay outside.
Everything is still based in Penang Island. (which the Island getting abit overly crowded and unhumane... )

IC Design Park in Selangor is a joke. I give it another 10 years, also I don't think they will manage to attract enough players to sustain the job market.

Especially given the choices and prime location they pick their offices

Answer can be found in Singapore. With 5yrs exp, good time to go.

Based on the info I gather, I can only speak for positions similar to mine (~2yoe, Master's graduate, R&D pos)

Annual pay is more or less on par or better than in SG, factoring in the living costs.
Tier 0 MNC such as google/nvidia : 3-5million TWD (tho a big portion is in stock unit)
Tier 1 local such as tsmc/mediatek : 2-3million TWD (big portion in bonus)

But need to keep in mind Taiwanese local firms pay predominantly in the form of bonuses, so good seasons pays well, but bad seasons might pay significantly less.
Still, the base pay (~70-95k TWD/month) is considerably higher compared to Malaysia.

For bachelor's degree fresh grad, I heard Phison is paying 55-65k TWD/month here.
Now you know why K.S. Pua is willing to offer RM6k salary for fresh grad pos at MaiStorage

Language depends. In MNCs, mostly English. In local company, it depends on which company and which department. I heard TSMC have quite a few indians employees.

The culture is similar to chinapek company tho, "flexible working hours" means longer than normal working hours lol.
Almost everyone is a workaholic here, either by choice or due to peer pressure.

Even in MNCs like Nvidia or Google, it is not that much better since the management is mostly local Taiwanese (which brought their culture from say Mediatek).
People says WLB means work for asian, life for angmo hahaha


"Having Experience in Tapeouts before even graduating."
Oh those friends of mine graduate from grad school in Taiwan.
I think top IC design labs in research universities here do tapeouts regularly via Multi-Project Wafer shuttle, heavily subsidised by the government/industry alliances.

IMO, there's still much to be done if Malaysia wants a piece of the IC design game. Especially in the education sector.

This post has been edited by zlewe: Dec 18 2025, 11:33 PM

70-95k TWD seems reasonable. It's about RM 9k-12k before taxes.
So far, how do you find living in Taiwan? Are the living expenses and are the taxes fair and you been able to make a "healthy" living out of it?

Phison offering RM 6k in Malaysia is mostly for hiring Firmware Engineers tbh. They aren't doing any circuitry stuff here.

I see, no wonder, these type of Wafer Shuttles I heard is every client need to tape out on time. If missed the Shuttle, Design won't get in.

But I think Semiconductor Industry becoming lacking of Work-Life Balance soon. You guys fully back in office no more flexible working days?

Actually semicon jobs are among the highest paid here, and are viewed highly by society besides doctor (who also overworked like hell due to the medical system, unless they open their own clinic la).
The unique parallel here compared to elsewhere is that IC design jobs are generally considered "better" than software job.

Living cost is more or less similar compared to urban KL, though rent maybe slightly higher.
Rent is ~12k TWD for a room with attached bathroom.
Studio is ~18k TWD.
Though if you plan to stay long-term, property prices are sky high lol.
All things considered, you can generally expect higher quality of life compared to similar position in Singapore. (salary-cost ratio)

Taxes are lesser than Malaysia until you reached the ballpark of around RM350k annual pay.
The standard deductible is also significantly higher in Taiwan. Almost RM60k equivalent. So if total pay is below that, you barely pay any taxes.

Taiwan has the most controlled COVID outbreak so the recovery is quick also.
Back when I join my co in late 2023, everything was already back to normal.

But WLB wise, it is just non-stop grinding. Lately I've been feeling almost burnt-out. Not great so I'm also looking to jump ship to MNC if possible,even though job security in my current cinapek co is much better than MNC. Currently juggling between tasks from 4 projects, and two of them are scheduled to tapeout in like 1 month.