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IT Home reported on August 11 that TSMC, the world's leading semiconductor foundry, has not been making smooth progress in its plan to build a factory in Arizona, USA. The 5-nanometer wafer factory, originally scheduled to be put into production in 2024, has been postponed several times and is currently expected to be postponed to 2025. According to the New York Times,The root of the problem lies in the starkly different workplace cultures between Taiwan and the United States.

Image source: TSMC

TSMC is known for its harsh working environment, including 12-hour workdays, weekend overtime, and even midnight emergency recalls. Taiwan's management is known for its tough style, and employees may face severe punishment or even dismissal for the slightest mistake. However,This management model is not suitable for the United States. Reports show thatMany employees at the Arizona factory left because they could not stand the high-pressure environment, causing TSMC to face serious recruitment difficulties..at present,Nearly half of the factory's 2,200 employees are from Taiwan, which shows the degree of dependence of enterprises on employees in Taiwan.

The US government attaches great importance to the localization of chip manufacturing to reduce dependence on imports. TSMC's Arizona project is seen as a key measure to improve the level of chip manufacturing in the United States. US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo once said that 92% of the most advanced chips in the United States rely on imports from Taiwan. TSMC has pledged to invest $65 billion in the project (IT Home Note: Currently about 466.347 billion yuan) and received a $6.6 billion (currently about 47.352 billion yuan) subsidy from the US government's Chips and Science Act.

TSMC plans to build three factories in Arizona, eventually creating 6,000 jobs. The company urgently needs to reduce the proportion of employees in Taiwan and realize localized operations. Mr. Liu, TSMC's Arizona employee communication and relations director, said: "We hope that this plant can be successful and sustainable. Sustainability means that we can't always rely on Taiwan to send people here."

To cultivate local talent, local colleges and universities have added courses in related majors such as electrical engineering, and have cooperated with TSMC to provide internships, research projects and recruitment opportunities. TSMC has also established clean rooms in high schools to allow students to get in touch with the semiconductor manufacturing environment in advance.

To bridge the cultural gap, TSMC sent American employees to Taiwan to study and provided communication training to management. However, TSMC is not the only chipmaker in Arizona. Intel is also expanding its factories there, and the competition has intensified the battle for talent.

If TSMC wants to gain a foothold in the United States, it must adapt to the local workplace culture and compete with other competitors for talent.