Computer

Chip manufacturing in check: TSMC has no workers in the US

At the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022 we all saw with joy how the big three of the semiconductors announced with great fanfare the projects to create FABs all over the world, where of course the EU, the US and Taiwan were at the center of the conglomerate, without forgetting South Korea obviously. What seemed like the beginning of the end and a ray of hope is turning into a nightmare, at least for TSMCsince the problems are piling up and even its founder criticizes the deployment of means and lack of workers.

The only thing missing was for the founder of TSMC to add fuel to the fire, but Morris Chang is clear about it and gives the guidelines of what could be an unannounced and poorly planned failure of what his company was. And it is that the problems have not stopped appearing and now we begin to understand the reason for the delays that a giant like TSMC is suffering in a much more developed country than Taiwan, such as the US.

TSMC has no workers, what is happening?

There are no workers in the US, at least not for the chip manufacturing industry, and here a point must be made despite the precision of the words used: manufacturing should not be confused with chip design. This is something that we will see later with Chang’s statements, but the important thing now is to understand TSMC’s efforts to moving staff from Taiwan to the US in the face of the inability to find workers in such a technologically developed country.

The company is encouraging the transfer of workers to the point that it has lowered the requirements to a level not seen in the industry until now: basic, high school.

tsmc_semiconductor_fab14_2

You only need a score of more than 800 on the TOEIC tests, which are those that determine the level of English in that country.

The company’s agreement is long-term with its workers, where they would remain at least two years in the United States, specifically at FAB 21 in Arizona. Why then does TSMC not find workers in that country? Well, due to various training and education requirements of the company. TSMC requires training in Taiwan for between 6 months and 12 months and apparently the American citizen is not willing to do so, so it is easier to export from Taiwan than from the American side.

TSMC’s FAB in the US is a waste of money

And this is where we return to Morris Chang, since with the perspective described above we link the arguments of the company’s founder. And it is that in his opinion the attempt to increase the manufacture of chips on American soil is a «costly and useless exercise«. The problem lies not only with the workers, but with the shifts.

Chang says the average worker in the US can’t stand the shifts it takes to keep a FAB running 24/7, while in Taiwan they can. In addition, the salaries are much higher and therefore the FAB 21 will not be able to compete in costs since it is estimated that +50% of the price that it costs in the Asian country.

TSMC-Fab-21-arizona

So why did TSMC agree to create a FAB in that country? Well, it seems to be according to Chang that she was pressured by the US government, and it is that, as we well know, chip production does not want to be focused on Asia anymore and is trying to recover. But there is a political-strategic reason here and it is a possible Chinese attack on Taiwana scenario that is very hot with flights of fighter planes even through hostile territory.

In short, TSMC has it really complicated and they may have been very optimistic after seeing the American money flowing into their coffers, which is a global problem since said FAB 21 was going to produce wafers with state-of-the-art lithographic processes, so if everything is still delayed may the dates in 2024 start to aim more towards the end of said year than earlier in the same to end this semiconductor crisis.

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