This report was first released in 2017 and an annual report has since been regularly released each year. This report presents the sustainability performance of the parent company and all entities in the group’s consolidated reports, including subsidiaries in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, South Asia, South Korea and Japan. Unless otherwise specified, the major operating regions are divided into regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, South Asia, South Korea, and Japan.
The other data in this report were compiled from the last five years by the disclosure team, with numeral information described in the usual way and rounded in principle. In cases where the relevant performance information has been collected for less than five years or the accuracy of the information can not be validated or verified, only the data of one to four years are disclosed.
The 2023 Sustainability Report discloses on 12 material topics, including the nine that were covered in the 2022 Report and three newly added by the Sustainability Team after a comprehensive analysis on the severity and probability of economic/environmental/social impacts on WT’s operations. They are energy management; diversity, inclusion and equality; and social impact.
WT continues to involve stakeholders to ensure a communication and response mechanism is in place for sustainability issues. WT followed the accountability principles of AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard, which are impact, materiality, inclusivity, and responsiveness, to identify key stakeholder groups. An evaluation and discussion by the Sustainable Development Team concluded that as there was no significant change in the operating environment, the key stakeholder groups were therefore the same as identified previously, which are shareholders/lenders, customers, employees, vendors, and other suppliers.
WT voluntary enact sustainable policies and initiatives for environmental, social, corporate governance, and economic and trade compliance. Meanwhile, these sustainable policies and initiatives are all approved by the Board of Directors and published after the approval of the board’s chairman.
The Board of Directors is WT’s highest governance body. In 2023, an additional Independent Director was by-elected as the eighth member of the Board by the annual shareholders meeting to strengthen the Board’s supervisory function. Of the Board Members, there are four Independent Directors (50%), three women (37.5%).
The Board of Directors meets at least once a quarter. The Board of Directors are mainly responsible for monitoring the achievement of the Company’s operational goals and performance, providing strategic guidance to the management team, and overseeing the Company’s compliance with laws and regulations to ensure the best interests of its shareholders. In 2023, the Directors’ in person attendance rate at the 15 Board meetings was 94% , and the Independent Directors’ was 100%. WT has formulated the Rules for Board of Directors Performance Assessments in 2016, which clearly stipulates that the Board shall be evaluated at least once a year, and its performance must also be assessed once every three years by an external professional independent institution or an external team of experts and scholars. The assessment results must be reported to the Board, and be used as a reference to determine individual directors’ remuneration payment and nomination for the Board re-election.
WT have integrated our commitment to sustainable development, including environmental, corporate governance, and social responsibility, into the performance evaluations of the CEO, President, and Vice Presidents. This is linked to both short-term and long-term variable compensation. The Compensation and Clawback Policy for Executive Officers was formulated in 2023 and adopted by the Board in 2024, which formally include environmental and social operational performance into the Executive Officers’ compensation evaluation criteria. In particular, environmental and social performance each account for at least 5%.
WT has formulated a Supplier Code of Conduct to regulate vendors in five major aspects. In order to continuously optimize vendor management, new vendors of 2023 were required to conduct a six-part self-evaluation of human rights, labor practices, consumers, ethical management, environment, and health and safety. A self-assessment questionnaire was used to analyze a vendor’s current risk level, including its sustainability awareness, whether there are major deficiencies or illegal situations, etc.
WT requires new vendors to conduct a self-evaluation of social responsibility, labor practices and environmental protection, fill in the “Supplier Self-Assessment Form” truthfully, and sign back the “Supplier Corporate Social Responsibility Commitment Letter”. The return rate was 100% in 2023.In addition, a vendors assembly and training is being organized for 2024 to promote WT’s sustainability vision, cultivate joint sustainability implementation capabilities, and strive to maximize ESG development benefits through supply chain cooperation.
WT recruits talents aligned with WT’s core values via multiple channels including job bank websites, online platforms (such as LinkedIn, CakeResume, Blink, etc.), campus career centers, partnerships with universities, colleges, departments, as well as internal referrals. A complete training and development plan is provided to ensure talents
translate learning into performance effectively, and thereupon build a talent pool ready for a rapidly-changing future. In 2024, an internal recruitment system will be designed and implemented for mid- and high-level supervisors transferring to another department and employees to another job.
In 2023, WT made some post-pandemic adaptations to its recruitment practices. In addition to strengthened publicity through various recruitment platforms, WT gave several on-campus recruitment presentations again, offering various full-time and internship vacancies. In order to develop talents while allowing students to apply what they have learned and gain work experience, a number of internship opportunities for different types of work will be offered in 2024 (such as sales, FAE, procurement, PO management, information, process optimization, human resources, etc.), totaling more than 20 vacancies. In addition, WT will also work with universities in cultivating promising talents, by providing scholarship funds to the College of Social Sciences, National Chengchi University and College of Engineering, Donghai University in 2024.
To provide a better career pathway program, WT launched the “Want Talent” elite training program and recruited selected new graduates for the program. In addition to soft skills and technical courses, job rotation training and participation in important projects and large-scale conferences are organized for them to gain a comprehensive understanding of the core concepts of the Company’s operation. Furthermore, senior executives and the human resources department show regular care for them, provide them career guidance, and plan their individual advancement goals and development, to keep them in a changing and challenging work environment.
With the advent of the digital era, WT introduced the WT e-Learning Academy, a digital learning platform that combines online and in-person learning. In the post-pandemic world, learning styles have changed and the proportion of digital learning has increased. Based on WT’s training and development plan, WT e-Learning Academy has established courses in five categories, combining e-newsletters, a knowledge center, and online courses to integrate internal and external resources and enrich the platform’s content, while becoming a platform for linking WT’s knowledge transmission and communication.
WT values the welfare and rights of its employees and actively promotes harmonious relations between management and labors. Work rules and various management regulations have been formulated in accordance with the Labor Standards Act and relevant laws and regulations, and the Code of Practice for Sustainable Development has also been formulated to specify the rights and obligations of both employers and employees in management matters, so that employees can fully understand, comply with, and protect their legitimate rights and interests. In the case of any major changes in the operating conditions that may affect employees’ rights and interests or work environment, WT informs employees within the statutory minimum notification period in order to protect employees’ rights and interests.
WT formulated, in accordance with international human rights conventions and initiatives, a Social Policy and Code of Conduct, which was signed by the Chairman and published on the Company’s official website as a standard for all employees, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders to follow.
WT’s Information Security Department is headed by Chief Information Security Officer at the level of deputy general manage. The Department, composed of one dedicated director and two dedicated personnel, is responsible for information security risk management, incident investigation, system vulnerabilities disclosure, and information security system evaluation and introduction, etc. Following the establishment of the Sustainable Development Committee, information security management strategies and results will also be presented to the Sustainability Development Committee before being submitted to the Board.
In 2023, a total of six international certificates in information security governance, information security management and auditing were obtained, including CEH Master, CISA, and ISO 27001 Lead Auditor. In addition, WT has joined joint information security defense organizations such as Taiwan CERT/CSIRT Alliance and Taiwan Chief Information Security Officer Alliance to strengthen the joint information security defense system by identifying relevant information security trends and sharing threat intelligence.
WT is ISO/IEC 27001:2013 and CNS 27001:2014 verified via TCIC, with certificates valid until 2025.
From 2021, randomly selected phishing templates are sent out every month for social engineering exercises. For employees who click on phishing emails, there is a system in place to require refresher training, notify their direct supervisors, and keep track of the training results, in order to reduce information security threats caused by employees lacking information security awareness.
Of the Group’s 2,539 employees required to complete the training, 29 dropped before it ended. They either applied for leave without pay, began maternity leave, or departed the Group. A total of 2,510 completed the course and passed the test (100% pass rate).
In line with the green design mindset, semiconductor components that are used must have low-loss and high-performance characteristics, and WT is strengthening the promotion of green and high-performance semiconductor component products so that clients can adhere to the design concepts and principles of environmental protection, energy efficiency and optimization. In addition, through our understanding of market development trends and our mastery of low-consumption and high-efficiency product application technologies, WT continues to promote and provide education and training on low-consumption and high-efficiency products, providing clients with suitable low-consumption and high-efficiency product solutions or reference designs and assisting clients in realizing green designs. Meanwhile, all logistics center operations have been integrated with advanced logistics information systems, enabling paperless electronic operations.
WT Microelectronics is committed to the goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 through reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy.We have set ambitious near-term and long-term targets to achieve this goal:
Near-term Targets:
• Reduce GHG Scope 1 and 2 emissions 50% by 2035, compared to 2022.
• Reduce GHG emissions by 3%~5% per year, initialing in 2024.
• Identify feasible solutions to reduce Scope 3 emissions.
Long-term Target:
• Achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
To achieve these targets, we are implementing a number of initiatives, including:
• Increasing energy efficiency in our operation facilities.
• Investing in renewable energy and energy storage.
• Survey and purchase green energy or other alternative renewable energy certificates.
• Encourage our outsourced transportation fleet to adopt electric trucks.
• Working with our suppliers to reduce their GHG emissions.
• Collaborating with our customers and other stakeholders to develop innovative solutions to reduce GHG Scope 3 emissions.
We believe that our decarbonization journey is critical to our future growth and prosperity, and to building a more sustainable future for all our stakeholders and the planet.