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TSMC Volunteer Program

Social responsibility has been a feature of TSMC’s culture since its founding. The TSMC Foundation is dedicated to promoting education and culture, providing aid for the underprivileged, advocating energy saving, and caring for communities. The TSMC Foundation launched an employee volunteer program in 2003 as a channel through which its most valuable asset, high-tech professional employees, give to the society. Employees and their family members have been invited to participate in the following programs:

TSMC Volunteer Docent Program
TSMC Book Reading Volunteer Program
TSMC Energy-saving Volunteer Program
TSMC Community Volunteer Program
TSMC Ecology Volunteer Program (2012 new initiative)

TSMC Volunteer Docent Program

One important way in which a corporation can serve and respond to its communities is to share its knowledge. The spread of knowledge furthers people’s understanding of their environment and may inspire the future generations and bring forth change in society.

To promote science education and to further people’s understanding of the IC industry, TSMC made a donation to the National Museum of Natural Science (Taichung) in 1997 to set up an exhibition hall – The World of the Integrated Circuits. In 2003 and 2011, TSMC sponsored the renovation of the hall, adding interactive displays that explain semiconductor principles, the development of integrated circuits, and the important role the IC industry plays in daily life. In 2004, TSMC Foundation recruited employees and their family members to serve as volunteer docents at the exhibition hall on weekends and holiday.

As many as 194 people volunteered in 2004. Youth volunteers were added in 2006, and employees were encouraged to invite their high school children to join the Volunteer Docent Program. In 2007, the program was expanded to recruit new blood from TSMC-affiliated companies, including Vanguard, VisEra, Xintec, and Global Unichip. The docent’s enthusiasm and professionalism have been highly appreciated by visitors, and each year the group is recognized as an “Outstanding Volunteer Team” by the National Museum of Science.

When the new “The World of Semiconductor” opened in 2011 the TSMC volunteer program recruited around 500 volunteers. In 2012, the number grew to more than 700 volunteers.

TSMC Book Reading Volunteer Program

TSMC believes the future hope and competitiveness of Taiwan lies in the children of the next generation, and education is the key to the development of these children. Hoping to help reduce the disparity of educational resources between rural and urban schools, TSMC Foundation has sponsored the Hope Reading Program organized by the CommonWealth Magazine since 2004. Besides donating 20,000 books annually to 200 schools in remote rural areas, the TSMC Foundation recruited employees and their family members to form a volunteer team to read to children in the hope of sparking their interest in reading.

During the first year, 49 volunteers joined and started serving two elementary schools in the remote townships in Hsinchu. Now more than 100 people travel to the remote schools to tell stories to the children on a regular basis. With increasing participants, the program was extended to Tainan in 2006. Volunteers encourage children to read and to make use of the books donated through the Hope Reading Program.

Volunteers prepare plays or plan activities during holidays to further encourage children’s interest in reading. Working regularly with the children over the long term, many volunteers have developed profound friendships with the children.

The selfless service of Book Reading Volunteer Program participants has been greatly appreciated by the schools and the children. This program has become a great model frequently reported by the mass media, which has helped to spread the spirit of encouraging reading through reading aloud.

In 2012, TSMC expanded its service scope to eight schools from five. Today, 318 volunteers read books with children in Hsinchu, Taichung and Tainan. They have served for eight consecutive years and will continue to help pave the road for these underprivileged children’s future.

TSMC Energy Saving Volunteer Program

With global warming and the depletion of limited natural resources and fossil fuel, saving energy has become a global common goal. TSMC recruited employees with expertise in energy conservation to start the Energy-Saving Volunteer Program, and has provided schools in the Hsinchu and Tainan areas with professional consulting service. The team helps to come up with plans for schools to improve power efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.

Formed in 2008 by 25 TSMC employees, the Energy-Saving Volunteer Program initially served neighborhood schools. Two high schools in Hsinchu were chosen, and a team was sent to each school to assist in lowering water, electricity and telecommunication bills, as well as improving environmental safety and air-conditioning. After assessing the facilities, collecting data, and evaluating power efficiency, the teams proposed energy-saving plans and ways to reduce carbon emissions to the schools.

The Energy-Saving volunteers not only endeavor to save energy for the Company and Taiwan but also wish to do what they can to preserve the earth. The program expanded service to Taichung in 2011 in to achieve its promise: “Where TSMC is, their volunteers are also”. In 2012, volunteers input 950 hours in the Hsinchu, Taichung and Tainan areas.

TSMC Community Volunteer Program

When the TSMC Community Volunteer Program started recruiting employees, a central focus was to continually deploy their expertise to help those who need them the most.

When Typhoon Morakot struck southern Taiwan in 2009, TSMC employees, deeply saddened by the suffering it caused, immediately established the Typhoon Morakot Project Team and provided assistance and relief measures to the typhoon victims. The experience prompted TSMC employees to ponder what else could be done to help the community and, consequently, the Typhoon Morakot Project Team became the Community Volunteer Program in 2010, aiming to reach out to the needy.

The needy, the elderly and children are the focus of TSMC Community volunteers partly because Taiwan is an aging society with more than two million people over the age of 65, among whom one fifth need nursing care. Because of rapid changes in society, it is critical for children – the future of the country – to build their characters at an early age. It is important for children to have productive interactions with their parents, something often lacking in dysfunctional families, whose children need warmth, care and company.

TSMC Community Volunteer Program mainly serves the elderly at Hsinchu Veterans Home and the children at St. Teresa Children Center. In 2010, when we first recruited volunteers, 156 people joined. In 2012, there are 404 volunteers. The elderly, the children, and the volunteers are closely linked through regular activities.

Hsinchu Veterans Home activities:

In 2012, a total of 308 TSMC volunteers visited Hsinchu Veterans Home every weekend to spend time with the elderly veterans. Volunteers are divided into three groups:

In 2012, TSMC Volunteer Program organized one holiday volunteer event on December 8 in Hsinchu Veterans Home. Over 200 employees and families participated to join lunch banquet. TSMC Volunteer Program also invited symphony to perform for the elderly.

St. Teresa Children Center activities:

There are 62 volunteers serving at the Center, giving warm and timely care to the children. Among their accomplishments:

Taitung Project activities:

There are 36 volunteers accompanied with children in Taitung who suffered type 1 diabetes. 2012 results as following:

TSMC Ecology Volunteer Program

In 2012, TSMC launched a new volunteer initiative: the Ecology Volunteer Program. Two groups of employees who are interested in natural ecology donate their time to environmental protection service at ecology parks in Taichung & Tainan. Volunteers are trained as ecology docents popularize natural ecology concepts with school children and the public visiting the two parks.

With 47 employees joining the subgroup, TSMC Volunteer Program hosted three advanced training courses to enhance skills and abilities of the volunteers. Their task is to be docents to guide visitors to Fab 15 ecology park in Taichung. They guided Ju-Liu elementary school through Fab 15 ecology park for the first visit at the end of 2012.

TSMC Volunteer Program recruited 91 employees and their family members to serve as volunteer docents at the Jacana ecology education park on weekends and holidays.