For International Women’s Day 2021, SK hynix’s Wuxi office provided female colleagues with care packages of women’s products including hand sanitizers and face wash. Addtionally, SK hynix’s Chongqing office held an in-house event for female colleagues to make handmade lipsticks and presented them with jujubes – good for female blood circulation – and lottery tickets – as a symbol of good luck.

The global theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is #ChooseToChallenge, “We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women’s achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world.”

Celebrating the Women of SK hynix

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Anna Martinovskaya
Team: DV
Time at SK hynix: 6 years
Location: Belarus, Minsk

What are you most proud of in your work? “Being part of SK hynix’s global R&D team, which is at the forefront of one of the most innovative areas – NAND – is a great point of pride for me. Working every day on certain tasks, I understand that I also contribute to the common cause of the company. Together we can improve the lives of people around the world, build a new efficient and intelligent future.”

Have you noticed an increase in women entering the industry in recent years? “When I started working in the SKHMS E DV team, I was the only lady in our team. Now there are four females in our team, which makes me very happy. Thus, I think the number of women in the semiconductor industry is growing permanently.”

What makes women so valuable in this industry? “Many studies prove that “innovative discoveries,” creative and non-standard solutions and products occur more often in companies with gender balance. In short, women can bring a new perspective, experience or expertise to a men’s team, which will generally have a positive effect on the development of the industry.”

How does the company encourage and support women? “In my opinion, the company sets the standard in creating a good working environment and provides great support for its Members equally regardless of gender.”

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Ty Chatchaidech
Team: Sales
Time at SK hynix: 2 years
Location: San Jose, California

What makes women so valuable in this industry? “I believe we bring the soft side to the otherwise quite a stringent industry. I cannot speak for every woman as each and every one is unique. As for me, I find that I excel at resolving tensions and finding agreeable middle grounds that both parties can agree on so that we can move through difficult situations.”

What is the biggest issue facing women in the semiconductor industry? “We lack female executives and familiar role models for young girls to look up to. I think we need to change that.”

Who or what encouraged you to pursue your career? “My mother. She has always been the biggest supporter of mine. She herself received a PhD at 60 years of age. Her determination and aspirations have been and always will be my inspiration.”

What essential elements must a workplace have to create this positive environment? “Workplaces must appoint more female executives and more females in leadership roles, calibrate matching male/female wage scale, match maternity and paternity leave standards, and expand inclusion initiatives such as highlighting female vendors or donating to female-related causes.”

Liu Hanli
Team: CQ Purchasing
Time at SK hynix: 7 years
Location: Chongqing, China

What are you most proud of in your work? “What I am proud most of my time at work is that I solve my own problems one by one, even if I have a hundred times at a difficult time.”

How can SK hynix continue to encourage and support women? “To further create an equal working environment for men and women, I think that in addition to the big environmental and hardware efforts, each individual needs to work at the level of equal consciousness. If we build an equal and friendly working environment, the big environment naturally takes shape.”

What do you think is the biggest issue today facing women at work? “I think the biggest problem is still the contradiction between professional role and family role. Although today’s society has been more tolerant of working women, we still hope to have more understanding, to treat individual cases objectively, and not to generalize, to evaluate and judge with negative preconceptions and partial generalizations.”

What message do you have to women on International Women’s Day? “I wish women all over the world, those who want to ride the wind and waves in the workplace can set sail, and those who want to give consideration to both family and career can get what they want. The existence of women makes the world a better place.”

Wang Jing
Team: FAB QC
Time at SK hynix: 15 years
Location: Wuxi, China

Tell us about your career at SK hynix. “In the past 15 years, I have been working frequently in various factories of our company, inspecting and controlling tens of thousands of raw materials. Day after day, year after year, I have grown from a clueless new employee to an old employee who is proficient with the incoming inspection business.”

What is the biggest challenge facing women in the semiconductor industry? “There are more men than women at the middle and high levels of leadership – which has an impact on women’s rights and interests. Companies should give more platforms and opportunities to female employees so that they can give full power to women’s advantages and make a career.”

Who has been your biggest inspiration while growing your career? “Lin Lanying, who is the founder and pioneer of China’s semiconductor materials science. At first, she worked hard in a foreign country, and then returned home to make contributions to the motherland. Her hard work, perseverance and patriotism are all values worth learning.”

How does SK hynix encourage and support women? How can they improve? “Our company has made great efforts to create a friendly working environment for women. We have set up a staff lounge for pregnant women and a nursing room, and the women’s Working Committee of the trade union has menstrual vacation every quarter. But in creating equality between men and women, I think fair competition and job restrictions still need to be improved.”

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Hui-Chun Wu
Team: SoC SSD IP
Time at SK hynix: 4.5 years
Location: San Jose, California

What makes women so valuable in the semiconductor industry? “I think that women are valuable in every industry, not only in the semiconductor industry. If I had to name a few traits that make the biggest difference, I would say women are equally smart but more patient, generally excel in communication, and are generally uninterested in participating in workplace politics.”

Is there a strong female leader in your life? “My grandma. She used to own a printing factory and raised children with the income of her factory. Fast-forward 50 years, I realized that I am also “printing” something on to the chip. She is 90 and surrounded by family.”

What message would you deliver to women pursuing a career in the semiconductor industry? “Here are a few principles that inspired me and saved me when I hit obstacles: Lean in when opportunities arise and believe in what you do; Recruit support and allocate time for yourself; Do one’s own homework and do not assume gender privilege even if you are lucky to have it; Pay the goodwill forward and help others.”

What needs to happen to encourage more women to join the field? “The work culture should respect family hours for employees with family. If childcare and family duties are shared and/or can be outsourced, women can remain in the workforce and continue to contribute their talent. When long-term career is possible, more women will join the field.”

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HeeEun Choi
Team: DRAM PPNE
Time at SK hynix: 6 years
Location: Icheon, South Korea

How has your career at SK hynix evolved over the years? “I joined the company as a DRAM circuit design engineer and since the beginning, I have always considered PPNE as my future career path. After 5 years of building my knowledge in the circuit design team, I finally transferred to my current position – and the skills that I learned in early stages of my career have become great assets for my job today.”

Have you seen an increase in women entering the semiconductor industry in recent years? “I think that the semiconductor industry is getting more and more popular amongst female students especially in the past few years. This is probably because we are having more female students in engineering fields and so I think it is important encouraging more female students to entering engineering fields.”

What do you think is the biggest issue today facing women at work? “When coronavirus hit globally, the responsibilities of taking care of children and the elderly have disproportionally fallen on the shoulders of women. This proves that in any kind of similar situations, it is likely that a woman’s career will be the first to cut-off.”

What needs to happen to encourage more women to join the field? “To attract more women to join the field, we should introduce and advertise STEM field to female teenagers to let them peek into the women’s roles here. It is going to be a long haul and therefore I think it is important to do such jobs consistently.”

Continuing the Momentum

We know that the contributions of women don’t stop at the end of the month, and at SK hynix, we believe that this environment of recognition should continue throughout the year. In keeping with our values of community well-being, we strive to elevate the voices of our female employees every day across every one of our teams.

The post SK hynix Celebrates International Women’s Day 2021 first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.

This year, SK hynix celebrated International Women’s Day at its various offices around the world honoring the achievements and the hard work of our female employees. Initially, this holiday appeared as a day of struggle for women’s rights. However, nowadays, the mood of the holiday itself has changed. It is a day that not only highlights the importance of gender equality and the roles that women play in every sector, but also serves as a reminder for all to be more proactive in bringing diversity and inclusion.

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Across the company globally, women received congratulations from colleagues. For International Women’s Day 2020, SK hynix America turned purple, with everything from t-shirts to cupcakes and macarons.

Event at SK hynix America celebrating International Women’s Day

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SK hynix memory solutions Eastern Europe (SKHMS E) has celebrated the holiday for five straight years and International Women’s Day is now considered an official day off from work for the country. For the day, SKHMS E had organized masterclasses including health and wellness workshops as well as pop art painting and floral arrangement sessions. This year, SKHMS E held Cinema Evening to celebrate the holiday.

Female colleagues of SK hynix memory solutions Eastern Europe

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To honor our women employees and learn about what they thought about the global celebrations, we took some time to chat with several women about their impressive careers, the working environment, and advice for women looking to join the industry.

Natalia Ryzhenkova, Head of SK hynix memory solutions Eastern Europe

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Natalia Ryzhenkova, Head of SK hynix memory solutions Eastern Europe

Tell us a little bit about your career and what are some of the highlights or proudest accomplishments of your time here?

I started my journey with SKHMS E in July 2014, practically from the first days of its foundation. I’m very happy to be with the company and to take part in its continuous growth and development. I feel very proud to have been appointed as the head of SKHMS E last year.

For more than five years of working for the company, I’ve noticed we’ve managed to create not only professional but personal relationships based on honesty, trust and mutual respect.

The NAND industry is one of the most innovative, and it demands us to keep up with the latest trends and try to be on the cutting edge. So, one of the main goals for us is to forge ahead and improve our personal and professional development. I am happy that I have a job that motivates me for new achievements.

SKHMS E is one of SK hynix’s global R&D centers, and in order to have consistent results we need to be one team all over the world. Our teamwork and an achievement spirit will help to accomplish our most important goals.

What makes women so valuable in this industry?

Generally, women and men think differently, and therefore that creates two categories of user experience. Technology is our reality; we use it every day. For companies to continue to be innovative, they must take into account both male and female user experiences, as the combined experience brings more diversity.

In your opinion, what needs to happen to encourage more women to join the field?

Nowadays, engineering professions are starting to be more popular among women as they have a strong desire to learn and see opportunities for how they can grow professionally in the world of innovation. We are also witnessing that more and more women are entering both regular- and high-level positions in the technology industry.

A lot more can be done to encourage women to join the field. For example, providing information and discussions to highlight successful stories about women’s achievements in the engineering and IT sphere would be beneficial for young women to become interested in the field. The media should speak more on this topic, and motivate women to grow in the technology industry.

Others may include creating conditions that take into account the needs of a family, such as providing support with childcare.

In your experience, how does SK hynix encourage and support women here?

The company knows that, in order to succeed, every member should play his or her own significant role and that they are the most important value of our company.

In SKHMS E, we support diversity and equal opportunities based on personal skills and knowledge. All employees, especially women, are highly appreciated and evaluated as well as encouraged to try new things out, overcome challenges and grow professionally. We also take great care of our members’ health and wellbeing.

All these provide our team the possibility to come out on top in all projects, tasks and initiatives.

Rene (Eunsook) Chostner, Director of Venture Investment team

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Rene (Eunsook) Chostner, Director of Venture Investment team, SK hynix America

Please describe your current position at SK hynix?

As an Investment Director, I drive venture investments that are strategically relevant to our business of today and tomorrow. The investments are a vehicle to understand and leverage innovative technologies and disruptive business models in the semiconductor space and also adjacent industries that our products serve.

I began as a business strategist at a semiconductor company and evolved my career based on where my curiosity and passion took me. A mix of strategy, product marketing, management consulting, and business development roles has led me to my current role in venture investments.

What do you think is the biggest issue today facing women at work?

There are non-discriminatory laws and company policies in place, but sexism that is commonly encountered is more subtle and evasive, such as unconscious bias and boys’ club culture. These are problematic not only because they contribute to a non-inclusive corporate culture, but more so because they perpetuate inequality in access to opportunities and the gender pay gap.

What needs to be done to get more women interested in the semiconductor industry?

When there are more leader figures that women can relate to and look up to, the semiconductor industry will naturally draw more women. Fortunately, we are starting to see more women in leadership positions, and each individual is unique and possesses different strengths. I was happy to learn that SK hynix America was celebrating International Women’s Day this year.

Based on your own experience, what messages would you deliver to women considering pursuing a career in the semiconductor industry?

Today, semiconductors underpin the must-win technologies of the future, such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and advanced wireless networks, making it a very exciting place to be.

Jessie Qian, Director of Wuxi IT, SK hynix Semiconductor (China) Ltd.

Can you give us a brief introduction to your day-to-day work?

I am responsible for manufacturing enforcement (Manufacturing Execution System, shortly known as MES). It’s the big brain for the factory. The automation systems within the plant requires the MES to carry out the order.

As a working woman, how do you balance work and family life?

For working women, the child’s birth will bring about earth-shaking changes. Achieving a balance between child-rearing and work can be a big problem. I want to tell every working mother, first of all, to accept this change in life. In the necessary circumstances we also need to learn and ask for help, do not carry all the pressure on one person. This is also a way to take care of yourself, and to care about your family and work on the premise of caring yourself first and then to care about family and work.

What makes women so valuable in this industry and what messages would you deliver to women considering pursuing this type of career?

I hope girls don’t set limits on themselves. In fact, women can choose their work from lots of industries. Besides, they need to recognize their strengths first. For example, my ability is to analyze logic, and this has nothing to do with gender. Regardless of gender, finding a suitable job for yourself will also drive your growth. So, for the people who are new to the profession, you need to concern whether you can adapt to your job or not, and you’re happy or not. This will widen your career path.

Colleagues celebrating IWD at SK hynix America

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SK hynix Looking Forward

The International Women’s Day celebration at SK hynix was a very meaningful day for everyone in the company, and we need to continue this positive momentum to take vital steps forward to encourage gender equality in not only the technology industry but for all.

“The diversity in businesses is critical to making better business decisions and increasing company performance and productivity,” said Sam Lee, Head of SK hynix America. “In particular, gender diversity has shown to be one of the key drivers to sustainability, creativity and innovation in business.”

We were proud to hear from some of our great women who have overcome hurdles and barriers to excel to where they are today. We admire their experience, their drive and their commitment to inspiring younger generations and ultimately grow the presence of women in the semiconductor industry.

Let’s all think, act and be more gender-inclusive. Happy International Women’s Day!

The post International Women’s Day: SK hynix celebrates its female employees first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.