Caring about people
Open to new technologies, open to people in all their diversity, reliable in terms of health matters, occupational safety and development opportunities: the AT&S corporate values guide us in our everyday work. This way, we overcome major challenges in an increasingly complex working world.
MORE THAN A JOB.
It is fascinating to be part of a company that is at home in the future and whose solutions make a decisive contribution to shaping digital change. This has made us an attractive employer for more than 13,000 people all over the world. And we keep growing. At AT&S, visionary decision-makers meet solution-oriented doers in international teams, who make a vital contribution to our growing success. After all, even if our hearts beat for technology and engineering, it is the people that define AT&S – highly qualified employees from 61 countries. They are the strong foundation of the AT&S brand.
THE MOST IMPORTANT MISSION: INSPIRE NEW EMPLOYEES.
To keep the growth course of AT&S on track, we need one thing most of all: new talents and experienced professionals. In the next three years, AT&S will hire roughly 10,000 people globally. We are looking for engineers, technicians and graduates of technical colleges as well as production shift workers. Attracting these people and ensuring their enthusiasm for AT&S in the long term is one of our main challenges. After all, the labour market has undergone significant changes in recent years, with demand for qualified talents now exceeding supply. At the same time, we are experiencing a growing shortage of skilled labour, which will intensify when more semiconductor production sites are established outside of Taiwan, China and South Korea. In the rapidly growing markets, demand for the software knowledge required for the programming and integration of chips is rising. This will also aggravate labour shortages in the long run.
We actively and dynamically address this challenge at several levels, for example through long-term cooperation with universities and universities of applied sciences across the world. In China, we were able to establish a new degree course in mechatronics at Shanghai Open University thanks to a long-standing collaboration. Moreover, AT&S China and the Mechatronic Engineering & Automation School of Shanghai University are setting up a “Digital Transformation Innovation Centre”. In India, another long-standing collaboration with the Vidya Vikas Institute of Engineering, Technology and Educational Trust in Mysuru ensures the training of the professionals of tomorrow based on the joint establishment of a curriculum for printed circuit board production for Indian universities and universities of applied sciences. Recruiting and training measures are also in full swing at the new location in Malaysia. In cooperation with the country’s leading tech universities, for example the University of Science Malaysia, research and education networks are being created in order to attract top talents, ensure continued education and train the next generation of professionals.
In Austria we increasingly focus establishing contact with potential young employees as early as possible. In cooperation with external partners, the “AT&S Talent Network” has been established. This network enables young people to get in touch with us without any application formalities and to get involved in an industry network which they themselves could belong to one day. A broad range of apprenticeships, apprenticeships including a school leaving exam, and the option to spend a semester abroad during training make us interesting as an employer for school-leavers. Several schools used the opportunity to take a look behind the scenes of printed circuit board production at the Take Tech Days.
Our existing workforce is another powerful element. In this context, we initiated an attractive recommendation programme whereby employees can recommend potential candidates they know from their personal surroundings for filling vacancies. A successful recommendation is rewarded by a one-off bonus payment. Numerous applicants have already been hired successfully via this channel.
VIBRANT DIVERSITY.
People of 61 nationalities work at AT&S. 35 percent of our employees are women. As of 31 March 2022, AT&S employed 45 people with disabilities, most of them at our Austrian locations, where they are an integral part of our teams. We are firmly convinced that diversity and inclusion are a basis of successful collaboration. Our self-image is embracing diversity in all areas. This is why we signed the Diversity Charter in the financial year 2020/21. In doing so, we officially commit to value and promote all employees equally, regardless of nationality, ethnic origin, religion or ideology, disability, age or sexual orientation and identity.
INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT WITH A TAILWIND.
Where do I stand? Where do I want to go? To give our employees clear feedback and career prospects, we have established the AT&S Performance Management scheme. It includes regular appraisal and development interviews, which support dialogue with our employees and serve for individual development planning. Training and coaching for professional growth are essential at AT&S, but lifelong learning not only involves seminars. Rather, it also has to be integrated into the workplace. In times of remote working, limited contact, social distancing and travel restrictions, this required thorough planning and a high level of commitment. Nevertheless we tried to provide optimal conditions for continued education at AT&S and massively expanded our virtual learning offer.
HEALTH FIRST
Growth, transformation, COVID-19 pandemic: we are aware that the past year was not always easy for our staff. Therefore it is all the more important to us to protect our employees’ physical and mental health. The basis for this is the ISO 45001 occupational safety and health protection standard, which has been established across the Group. Continuous workplace inspections, preventive measures and targeted training programmes ensure maximum safety. The pandemic was by far the biggest health challenge. Setting up a COVID-19 task force enabled us to continuously adapt the protection measures to the occurrence of infections at the respective location. Our “Coronavirus infopoint”, continuous updates via all important communication channels and the option to get vaccinated at our locations in Austria, China and India, as well as the distribution of medication packages in India ensured that our employees were always comprehensively informed and supported.
Health prevention also plays an increasingly important role. The AT&S site management for Leoben and Fehring developed an extensive health, fitness and leisure-time programme. In addition, access to professional psychological online advice has been provided and can be used anonymously and free of charge. At the Chinese locations annual health checks at the workplace and blood donation campaigns are carried out. Plus: the doctor’s and mothers’ room at the Chongqing location was renovated, enabling employees to use medical services on site.
