Edison Trinidad is a 42-year-old mechanical engineer and “mechatronics” specialist, trained in designing robots, combustion engines, automated vehicles, and self-learning tools. Even though he is equipped with those skills, he spent seven frustrating years on a factory assembly line, mounting electrical parts onto circuit boards—a far cry from what an engineer expects their job to be.

That’s the story of most electrical or mechanical engineers in the Philippines. While a technician trainee can learn how to operate robotic arms to assemble chip parts and load circuit boards on the assembly line in about 10 days, semiconductor makers in the country require applicants to be engineering graduates.

“Only after seven years on [assembly line] shifts did I get my first engineering job,” Trinidad, now a senior facilities supervisor at the Philippine semiconductor company Gruppo EMS, told The Ken. It took him four years to be promoted to the current position. His job now includes performing inventory and purchasing tasks for chip parts.

In most other countries, engineers enjoy fat pay cheques, rarely working more than 40 hours a week in offices and laboratories. In stark contrast, many engineers in the Philippines find themselves stuck on factory floors, grinding through monotonous shifts at companies like EMS, which employs over 16,000 people.

EMS ships finished chips and electronics, like military radios, Toshiba laptops, and Epson printers. Earlier in 2024, the companyreceivedManila Standard3 foreign firms investing $1.6b in EMS Group US$1.6 billion in investments from three foreign firms. Plus, the company is in the process of setting up an US$800-million to cater to new clients.

Currently, EMS and other companies in the Philippines’ US$45-billion chip sector test, assemble, and packageone-fifthDepartment of Trade and Industry, Republic of PhilippinesPEZA welcomes visit of State Secretary Blinken, positive on increased EMS-SMS investments of the world’s semiconductor chips.

But the rise of automation threatens to render its services obsolete. And to make matters worse, rising costs of materials are already eroding profits. 

In 2023, the Philippines’ electronics exports fell by8%Philstar GlobalElectronics key to economic growth – DTI, and there are projections for another 10% decline in 2024, said Dan Lachica, president of Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, Inc.