asml launches talent search in china amid chip race

2025-06-27 asml

Beijing, Friday, 27 June 2025.
asml, the lithography giant, has announced a talent competition in china. the top performers, 16 in total, will get job interviews at asml. another 75 will be considered for future roles. this move highlights asml’s dedication to china, now its largest market, despite export restrictions. it also underscores the growing demand for skilled lithography engineers as china ramps up its domestic semiconductor capabilities. mainland china accounted for 36.1% of asml’s revenue in 2024.

competition details

The competition, named ‘ASML Lithography Core Power’ Knowledge Challenge, is open to semiconductor professionals and tech enthusiasts in China [3][6]. Participants will tackle 20 questions covering optics and physics, related to lithography machines, computational lithography, and metrology [3][6]. The contest runs from late June to early July [1]. ASML aims to promote lithography knowledge and identify talent while demonstrating its commitment to the Chinese market, despite restrictions [1].

market dynamics and asml’s strategy

ASML’s initiative occurs as Chinese firms and universities increase efforts to develop domestic lithography systems, spurred by restrictions from the U.S. and its allies [1]. The Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics is offering high compensation for PhD researchers in domestic lithography [1]. ASML’s competition could help staff its expanded repair center in Beijing [1]. Despite its efforts, ASML anticipates sales in China will decrease in 2025 due to order backlog fulfillment and stricter export limitations [1].

stock implications and technological landscape

While ASML expands its talent pool, the broader market faces shifts. Some companies are reevaluating EUV lithography’s importance [7]. Intel is using High-NA EUV for its 1.8nm process but will fully implement it for 1.4nm production [7]. TSMC won’t use High-NA EUV until its A10 process around 2030 [7]. ASML’s EUV shipments in 2024 were 44 units, less than expected [7]. These factors, along with increasing competition, may influence ASML’s stock performance as the company navigates evolving technological demands and market dynamics [alert! ‘stock market data not available to provide metrics’].

Bronnen

ASML Talent Lithography Engineers