

Our
Workplace
an innovative,
achievement-oriented
culture and celebrate the
people who bring it to life.

A tiny nudge in nanotechnology can move the whole world forward. That’s the idea that propels our employees as they push the boundaries of what’s possible. Bold innovators, masters of precision, and believers in process and proof—our employees represent the top talent in our industry and are at the heart of Lam’s success.
We support our employees by cultivating a safe and inclusive environment and investing in their wellness and development. Our commitment to inclusion and diversity (I&D) contributes to a culture where every employee is empowered to do their best work. We leverage diversity to fuel innovation—uniting unique individuals with broad perspectives to tackle complex challenges in new ways.
In 2021, around the world our employees rolled up their sleeves to meet increased production demands in the midst of a global health pandemic. At the same time, we expanded our global workforce dramatically, adding over 4,000 individuals to our team—a 33% increase over 2020. We did so with a focus on hiring diverse talent, including more female and minority workers, who are widely underrepresented in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Through it all, our employees delivered tremendous results for our business and customers, driven by the question, “what’s next?”
Relevant SDGs
Inclusion and diversity
Putting our people first: Our approach to human capital management
We’re building on our success in making Lam an outstanding global workplace. Our Board of Directors oversees the performance of our CEO and the succession of executive talent, and works with the Compensation and Human Resources Committee to engage with management across a broad range of human capital-related topics. Our CEO Staff and Global Human Resources teams drive the same objectives for our entire global workforce. Their focus areas include:
- I&D to enable greater innovation and self-empowerment in the workplace
- Recruitment, employee development, and retention
- Employee engagement
- Compensation and benefits
- Health and safety
Since calendar year 2020, all of our named executive officers have had compensation goals related to culture, talent, and I&D to help ensure the members of our executive team are aligned with our corporate goals in these areas and are accountable for the results achieved.
Our commitment to non-discrimination
We aim to maintain and cultivate a workplace where every person has equal opportunities to thrive. In line with the highest ethical and legal standards of labor and employment laws in every country where Lam maintains our workforce, we are committed to equal opportunity and non-discrimination in all our employment practices. We prohibit discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in any aspect of employment—including recruiting, hiring, promotion, and compensation.
Tim Archer
president and CEO

“The actions we take as an industry to increase the diversity of our talent pipeline today will dramatically improve our ability to drive new semiconductor breakthroughs in the future.”
Leading from the top
In 2021, Lam’s CEO Tim Archer joined more than 2,000 signatories of the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion pledge, which aims to drive measurable action and meaningful change in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.

Moving the needle on I&D
To underscore our ongoing focus on these important topics, we added inclusion and diversity as one of our Core Values in 2021. Our commitment to cultivating an inclusive environment and increasing diversity among our workforce has an influence in areas ranging from recruitment practices to benefits offerings to our company policies. Our global head of I&D, Antoinette Hamilton, leads our I&D strategy, which focuses on three core pillars: fostering inclusion, increasing diversity, and sharing our progress.
In 2021, we focused on deepening and expanding our commitments to accountability, transparency, gender equality, and supporting diverse communities through investments in leadership development, employee engagement, talent growth, and communication.
Antoinette
Hamilton
global head of I&D

“When diverse voices come together to express support for equity and inclusion, it creates a unique power to make real and lasting cultural change.”
2021 workforce representation
As we continue implementing our I&D strategy, we’re committed to holding ourselves accountable and being transparent about our results and in 2021, we expanded our disclosure by publicly reporting our Equal Employment Opportunity EEO-1 data for the first time.
Below is a snapshot of the demographics of our U.S. and global workforce as of December 31, 2021. The scope of employee demographic data does not include our Talus employees, although they are included in our total headcount.
In 2021, we encouraged our employees to self-identify their disability status, and to date 34% of employees disclosed it. We will use these insights to inform the continuous improvement in our I&D initiatives.
Global gender representation
Minimal rounding has been applied to this data.
U.S. ethnic diversity
Other workforce diversity
*Minimal rounding has been applied to this data. Data does not include Talus.

Around the world, we support organizations that build awareness and opportunities for underrepresented STEM talent, including but not limited to people of color, women, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. One of our key relationships is with the National Consortium of Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering (GEM), which provides graduate-level fellowships to underrepresented candidates in engineering and science. We're proud that our CEO, Tim Archer, has served as GEM’s Chairman since 2020, and our foundation provides $300,000 for GEM fellowships each year.
Advancing I&D in our industry
Companies with increased diversity among their management teams reportedly drive an average of 19% more of their revenue from innovation than their less diverse counterparts.1 Therefore, we are confident that attracting, retaining, and developing diverse talent helps us maintain a competitive edge. Despite ongoing evidence that an inclusive and diverse workforce boosts companies’ ability to drive value and fuel innovation, a lack of pathways persists in the U.S. for people of color and women to enter STEM fields. The time for progress is now, and we know it takes teamwork to move our industry forward.
In 2021, we launched and continued a variety of collaborations to support organizations advancing I&D in STEM. The organizations we work with include:
- Alliance for Global Inclusion
- Conference for Engineering Diversity
- DEI Board, founding member
- EDGE in Tech Initiative at the University of California
- National GEM Consortium
- Out & Equal
- Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (oSTEM)
- United Negro College Fund
- Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (WISET in Korea)
GEM fellowships
funded in 2021
GEM fellowships funded
since 2019
in GEM fellowship funding
annually

In 2021, Lam hosted a panel on the main stage of SEMICON West that highlighted why prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion is not just the right thing to do, it is a business imperative – crucial to combatting the existing tech talent shortage. The panel convened industry luminaries to promote accountability, share best practices, and increase opportunity around the path forward for advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Recruiting diverse employees and helping them thrive
At Lam, we lean into complex challenges to move society forward. Today, surging chip demand is fueling industry growth, yet widespread labor shortages make it hard for companies around the world to keep up.2 With millions of job openings available across the tech and advanced manufacturing sectors, our industry faces stiff competition to attract, retain, and source new talent. At the same time, diverse candidates remain underrepresented in many industries powered by STEM.
In 2021, Lam launched several new relationships to support and engage diverse students and professionals throughout the U.S. and help close the representation gap in STEM. Our new engagements with INROADS creates opportunities for students from historically underserved communities to complete internships at Lam. And our collaboration with the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) provides $100,000 in funds through 20 new scholarships at UNCF schools including HBCUs. We also have student and alumni recruiting relationships with:
- Howard University
- Norfolk State University*
- North Carolina A&T
- The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)*
- Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE)*
*new in 2021
We continue to prioritize investments in our internship program, new college graduate (NCG) rotation program, campus events, and thesis awards and scholarships. Through the NCG rotation program, recent graduates gain educational training along with real-life experiences that help prepare them for successful careers.
Through these programs, we’ve transformed an industry-wide challenge into an opportunity for Lam. In 2021, 19% of our new hires were from underrepresented groups, and we will continue to promote diversity inside and outside our company.
2 Lam Blog: https://blog.lamresearch.com/the-semiconductor-industrys-next-inflection-point/
Tony Davis
product support engineer and Black Employee Network chair

“An inclusive future is one in which everyone has a path to economic, social, and educational opportunities.”
From kindergarten to college, we’re increasing pathways to STEM
The talent pipeline starts long before the recruitment or application process. It begins by showing K-12 students just how fun and exciting STEM can be and continues through collaborations with universities and organizations fostering better career opportunities for underrepresented groups.
Core to our early outreach efforts, two of our ERGs—Black Employee Network (BEN) and Community of Latinx and African Americans for Student Success (C.L.A.S.S.)—volunteer in schools to encourage students in the African American and Latinx communities to explore STEM education and careers.
As students progress beyond their K-12 years, our ongoing and new relationships with HBCUs, HSIs, GEM, and other organizations create opportunities for diverse graduating high school seniors—as well as undergraduate and graduate-level university students—to discover their full potential. We continue to provide support through scholarships, internships, and opportunities to join our workforce.

Tapping into the heart of Lam
Our ERGs harness the passion of employees around the world to contribute to a more inclusive and diverse company culture. They create opportunities for employees to connect, learn, and develop; volunteer in mentoring programs; support diverse recruitment; and engage in our local communities. Under our ERG model, each group develops its own charter, goals, and initiatives that align with the company’s I&D Vision, for every person to feel valued, included, and empowered to achieve their full potential. By bringing unique individuals and viewpoints together, we achieve extraordinary results.
In 2021, all members of the CEO staff participated in ERG activities throughout the year, achieving our goal of 100% engagement. And each of our ERGs has an engaged executive sponsor. In 2021, we launched several new groups, expanding our total to 14, which includes the following:
- Black Employee Network*
- Community of Latino/African Americans for Student Success Outreach
- Lam India Women’s Network (LIWN)*
- New Professionals Network*
- PRIDE LGBTQ+ Allies
- Lam’s Veteran Community
- Women in CSBG
- Women in Engineering
- Women@Fremont
- Women in Global Operations (WGOP)
- Women in Leadership at Lam
- Women in Global Operations Malaysia*
- Women of Southeast Asia*
- Women in Global Operations Korea
*New in 2021

Our 2021 Inclusion Index Score compared to the technology industry benchmark of 73
Fostering an inclusive culture through ongoing training and engagement
We strive to embed I&D values throughout every aspect of our organization, including through trainings, engagement activities, and employee development resources. We provide cross-cultural training and mentoring opportunities, and I&D training is required for all new employees.
Managers receive further trainings and support to help them cultivate a more inclusive workplace for the teams they lead. We also offer resources through our app-based Inclusion Every Day program, which features practical, accessible reminders to be inclusive in daily leadership and decision-making. In addition, we are requiring all managers to set an inclusion development goal on an annual basis beginning in 2022.
In 2021, we further focused on I&D engagement by launching an Inclusion Index within our annual employee survey. The index represents the combined score of three survey questions that address equal opportunity, inclusion, and authenticity. While these items have been included in previous surveys, the new combined measurement will allow us to hold ourselves accountable by more clearly assessing our progress and identifying opportunities to improve. We also kicked off a new quarterly speaker series titled “Inclusion and Diversity Talks,” which had participation from over 1,500 employees globally.
Advancing equity at Lam
Women now outpace men in earning college degrees within the U.S.3, and they’ve achieved parity in the life sciences areas of work in many countries throughout the world.4 Yet when it comes to STEM fields beyond health sciences—such as engineering, computing, physics, and math—a stark gender gap remains. That gap highlights the persistent inequities facing women in STEM, and a critical missed opportunity for our in-demand industry.
To help address this gap, we’re committed to promoting gender equality and increasing the number of women in our workforce. To ensure accountability, we regularly measure the progress of our efforts to recruit, hire, and retain female employees. We also conduct an annual pay equity assessment of our compensation practices and systems to promote fair and equitable compensation in our workforce.
Additionally, in 2021, we continued to focus on increasing the number of women in our workforce and advancing their development by engaging with organizations that support women in STEM, including the National Association of Women in Manufacturing; Society of Women Engineers; Watermark; WIN (Women in INnovation) Korea; Women in Science, Engineering and Technology; and several universities in India. From Korea to the U.S., our female leaders spoke at virtual events streamed around the world, and we sponsored and participated at numerous conferences and event series aimed at connecting and empowering women. Examples include:
- Anita B.org: annual Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing event
- Expanding Diversity and Gender Equity in Tech Initiative: Women in Tech Symposium
- San Jose State University: Women in Engineering Conference
- Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association: Semiconductor Women’s Forum
- Women Impact Tech: event series
- WIN (Women in INnovation) Korea: bi-annual conferences
Representation of women
in our workforce by level
Our employees celebrated International Women’s Day with a #ChooseToChallenge campaign, which called out gender bias and inequality while celebrating women’s achievements. Meanwhile, female employees leveraged our Yammer channels to cultivate connections by launching groups like Moms of Lam. ERGs remain a core mode of connection for female employees worldwide.
As part of our efforts to reduce the gender gap in STEM, retain our female workforce, and provide family-supportive benefits (for both female and male employees), in 2021, we expanded our benefits offerings with inclusion and diversity in mind—including increasing paid parental leave and creating more workplace flexibility globally. We also collaborated with Pathforward to design and develop a Return-to-Work Program, which will launch in 2022 to help workers return to the workplace after a gap in their employment history and provide new recruitment channels for Lam.

Our Women in Global Operations (WGOPs) ERG reaches across continents to support and develop Lam’s female talent. In 2021, WGOPs continued their collaboration with FountainBlue, a change management consultancy, to deliver a series of year-round, women-in-leadership events and programs. This included 24 frontline manager meetings on topics such as communication, negotiation, and creativity in tech; 12 panel meetings for middle to senior women leaders; and 12 VIP roundtables for leaders at the director level and above.

Employee Engagement
Engaging employees to create a great workplace for all
When employees feel engaged, they approach their jobs with a long-term commitment and perspective that helps them produce their best work. And when that happens, our customers benefit, and our business thrives. Over the last few years, our work dynamic has changed with a portion of our employees working remotely, so maintaining high levels of employee engagement has never been more important.
Listen, learn, improve: Our strategy for ongoing engagement
Employee feedback plays a critical role in shaping many of our workplace initiatives and priorities. We measure employee engagement and capture employee insights through a comprehensive annual survey, which is facilitated through an external vendor and incorporates our new Inclusion Index, employee onboarding and exit surveys, and employee listening sessions. With each new round of insights, we act on what we learn. For example, to maintain consistently high scores throughout Lam, we invited managers of consistent, highly engaged teams to share their stories and best practices at scale, igniting energy and inspiring action. We provided personalized coaching and support for new people managers to improve performance and help elevate teams to the Lam average. Over the past three years, we’ve also used employees’ feedback to develop and enhance some of our most valuable workplace programs, including:
- Strengthening the Employee Resource Group community
- Continuing data-driven leadership development programming (including resilience and communication)
- Launching new programs including Better Up Coaching, Mentor Connect, and our U.S. Flexible Workplace policy
In 2021, our annual employee engagement index score of 80 put us in the top 20% of our survey vendor’s technology clients for the second year in a row. Lam survey scores exceeded the technology benchmark on all items in 2021 including manager support. We also expanded employee listening through two new surveys: in March, we re-launched our corporate exit survey to gain insights across the employee experience. And in September, we launched a new-hire experience survey, administered at 45 days of employment, and also streamlined our new hire training and improved the welcome experience.
80
engagement score
(top 20% of tech benchmark)
average years of service
retention rate
Celebrating employees who go above and beyond
We celebrate each other’s success. Above and Beyond, our “everyone-to-everyone” recognition program, allows employees to acknowledge individuals or teams for great work or demonstration of our Core Values. In 2021, employees recognized fellow colleagues with more than 71,000 awards. Individual and team accomplishments are also recognized through our Vista, Outstanding Technical Achievement, and Patented Innovation awards.
Erin Wixson
employee engagement senior manager

“While Lam employee engagement scores are top tier, focusing on engagement isn’t enough to be best-in-class. Which is why we are focused on our employee experience listening and measurement strategy to inform targeted investments in
the overall employee
experience.”

Benefits and well-being
Looking out for our employees’ well-being
Our employees deliver results for Lam, and we strive to deliver great benefits and resources in return. The resources we provide help employees maintain strong physical health, manage their finances, and find a critical balance between work and life. We offer these benefits through on-demand platforms to ensure accessibility to our global workforce.
In 2021, we further integrated inclusive features into our global benefits and wellness offerings, with a focus on increasing support for families and parents. We added:
- Expanded our paid maternity leave for birth mothers up to 6 months and provided all parents with up to 4 months of paid parental leave
- Higher lifetime maximums for fertility treatments and prescriptions
- Higher reimbursement for adoption expenses
- Extended bereavement leave
- Expanded our elective legal insurance benefit to cover a broader range of needs
Our global workforce was incredibly resilient throughout 2020 and 2021. However, in listening sessions and engagement surveys, we found that some employees were struggling with fatigue and isolation. This was due in part to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting shift to remote and hybrid work. We responded by hiring additional resources in key areas, outlining clearer organizational priorities, and expanding our benefits focused on physical, financial, and mental health. We also rolled out new trainings and initiatives through digital and on-demand platforms, including:
- WorkWise: A series of initiatives to support wellness and engagement, which added two new holidays, instilled better boundaries and best practices for video calls and included virtual events to create social connections among colleagues
- Managing Medical and Leave Issues in the Workplace: An inclusivity-focused training to help managers support people with complex leave and disability issues
- Mental Health First Aid certification: A program to build practical skills to spot signs of mental health issues and learn strategies to support a person in distress
- Remote meeting practices: Protocols to support wellness including Workday Boundaries, which set expectations and boundaries for working hours, and Focus Fridays, which establish that Friday meetings are off-camera and should end by 2:00 p.m. local time.
Employee benefits
Learning and talent development
Focusing on employee development
Lam employees are curious. They are continuous learners who discover new ideas and test new possibilities. Our goal is to help employees build a dynamic, evolving career at Lam. To do so, we enlist our Learning Connect portal, iLearn on-demand training portal, and other platforms to create flexible development opportunities for remote workers and provide trainings customized by region. Additionally, in 2021 we launched the Lam Learning Series, which provides live trainings on current and relevant topics for Lam, delivered in local languages globally. Topics included building organizational resilience for people leaders, and managing and preventing burnout for all employees.
Further, we focus on offering existing employees opportunities for promotion and growth, as well as ensuring talent succession. In 2021, we promoted over 1,900 Lam employees, or 45% of our open positions.
Turning talent into leadership
At Lam everyone is a learner and everyone is a leader. As employees develop their skills and gain knowledge, we help them build their confidence to lead Lam’s global teams toward world-class results. Our leadership programs and our technical certification program are designed to meet Lam’s managers at different stages of their evolving careers. They include:
- Grow: With a focus on first-time managers and effective communication, Grow allows us to scale leadership across our business, guiding new managers early on.
- Lead: Lead is designed to help experienced managers to up-level their leadership skills.
- Edge: Edge equips our executive leaders to drive positive change through a year-long cohort journey.
- Leap: Our technical program, Leap, provides new hires and current engineers with a comprehensive company overview and a four-level skill certification program across 12 disciplines to accelerate their development.
As our leaders grow their careers, they mentor others to share knowledge and increase their network and capabilities. In April 2021, we implemented Mentor Connect, a new technology that expands our ability to facilitate mentorship relationships across the company. In our first enterprise mentor program we had 317 mentoring participants, with a satisfaction score of 3.9/4. We also work with BetterUp, an online coaching platform, to provide external coaching to key talent, including 315 managers in 2021.
Training and development in 2021
total employee training hours
courses offered
reimbursement for
educational expenses
managers engaged
through Grow, Lead,
and Edge programs in 2021
Tuning in to the voice of our customers
Our Edge development program empowers Lam executives to drive positive change in our organization. In 2021, one multidisciplinary Edge team set out to explore ways to streamline our Voice of Customer (VoC) programs, which capture critical customer feedback so that we can improve our customer experience.
By analyzing current VoC practices, the Edge team captured and summarized several areas for improvement. They then benchmarked Lam’s practices against industry peers and interviewed a key customer to capture their insights. Through an organized training program the team turned their findings into a set of recommendations for better organization-wide VoC practices and awareness. This set the foundation for a second phase of the project, in which they hope to capture additional VoC insights, such as customers’ views on ESG.


Employee health and safety
Committed to safety
The products and services our employees deliver enable the devices on which our society relies. Never was that truer than in 2021, when global demand for chip technologies reached record heights. Keeping pace required a tremendous amount of work by our employees at manufacturing sites and labs, and offices around the globe. Protecting and supporting our employees is always paramount. We follow strict safety protocols, prioritize safety training, and use risk controls to enable employees to safely do their work while continuing to meet and exceed customer expectations.
Our global Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) Policy outlines our commitment to protect all Lam personnel and minimize risk through prevention of illness, injury, and environmental impact. It applies to every site and employee where we operate. To uphold our commitment to safety, we invest in prevention-based education, training, and awareness programs, as well as emergency preparedness procedures. Our safety programs are governed through a multi-tiered system—which includes corporate governance, site-based EHS leadership and business unit involvement, and additional committees and reviews. Likewise, we monitor our safety performance at the enterprise, regional, and site levels. Our corporate EHS team uses Lam’s global incident tracking system to assess and monitor safety trends, which it reports to business units and executive leadership through quarterly reviews. Our recordable injury rate is reported to the Board on a quarterly basis.
Innovation Spotlight
Holding steady: A handy solution improves quality and safety
We specialize in delivering big solutions through the smallest technologies. To do this, our metrology staff uses high-powered microscopes to examine each small wafer sample for quality control. The task requires them to physically prepare each sample and hold it steadily in place for test after test—potentially leading to repetitive motion injuries. For a more ergonomic and efficient solution, engineering technician Albert Wright designed a Sample Cradle Holder and Sample Preparation Station, which assist technicians like a “third hand.” The tools are currently in use at our Fremont, California, and Tualatin, Oregon, labs, enabling technicians to perform their tasks more comfortably and thoroughly while improving the image quality of each test result.
In 2021, Lam onboarded a large volume of new employees and ramped up production to meet increased customer demand. These factors, along with an aging workforce, contributed to a rise in our recordable injury rate. Strains and sprains continue to be our top mode of injury, and in 2021, we added a new physical training program, increased our general health and safety training, and performed more ergonomic assessments with the goal of reducing ergonomic injuries globally.
Our safety standards also extend to our contractors. We screen contractor safety performance and require their compliance with the safety standards set forth in our Contractor Handbook. Contractors must report safety incidents so that we can take formal actions if contractors fail to adhere to our standards.
We maintain multi-site certifications for ISO 45001, the globally recognized standard for occupational health and safety management systems.

Safety performance
hours employee safety training
injuries attributed to strains,
sprains and slips, trips, and falls
All safety data is reflective of Lam operations with the exception of our Silfex sites.
Our risk assessments and training programs
Our site and regional EHS teams use a layered approach to conduct annual safety risk assessments of their local operations. In 2021, these assessments comprised increased COVID-19 employee protection protocols, including face coverings use and social distancing. We conducted more than 206,000 Risk Management by Walking Around inspections—a process that we use to identify and track safety issues, as well as implement corrective actions at our offices and manufacturing sites. Similarly, our field teams use a Rapid Field Risk Assessment process to manage risks at customer sites.
Our people managers in field support, manufacturing, research and development, warehouse, and logistics operations all undergo formal safety leadership training to enhance their skills in safety management and communication. We also continued our Safety Awareness for Everyone (SAFE) program, which we use to update employees on emerging safety issues. We employ SAFE to prevent future issues by including lessons and stories based on incidents of the past.
Keeping employees safe during COVID-19
As the COVID-19 pandemic posed ongoing safety risks in 2021, we continued to take steps to protect our workers and reduce the risk of transmission in our workplaces. We continuously adapted our strategy and practices through a science-based approach, and we adjust to new governmental and regulatory regulations where and when needed.
Employees were informed of safety best practices through trainings, updated signage, videos, frequent communication from leadership, and updates via our dedicated internal COVID-19 website. For our onsite workers, we employed administrative, engineering, and environmental controls such as face masks, temperature monitoring, social distancing, sanitization, workforce segmentation, enhanced indoor air quality controls, and offered free onsite testing and vaccination clinics. We also focused on expanded workplace flexibility to improve and allow for remote work where possible.
Recordable injury rate (Lam vs. industry)
Note: Rate based on 100 employees working full time for one year. Data as of April 2022. Certain historical figures have been updated to reflect new reported cases received. 2021 industry average was not available at time of publication.