A feud is heating up between Arizona workers and the world’s leading chipmaker after the company claimed the US doesn’t have the skills to build its new factory::TSMC wants to bring in foreign reinforcements to get its Arizona factory running because it claims there aren’t enough qualified local workers.
Most of that is conflation of Taiwan with China (and let’s not do that) as well as mixing up TSMC with a random Shenzhen factory. Taiwan is definitely fucked, but it is more “America fucked” than “996 fucked”, as it were.
And it is important to understand that TSMC are basically the best of the best in semiconductors. That is skilled labor. I wouldn’t want to work there but if I had to pick a semiconductor factory to work in…
No, the reason that the vast majority of “popular science” tech youtubers have not covered this too much is that it is really a mixture of
So 1 and 2… should be valid but This Is America. But 3 is the real issue. Because we have people who are insisting on getting full salaries while more or less needing to be trained (often for a few years) on the job to be qualified. Versus flying out the people who DO know their shit. Like, we all like to complain that outsourcing usually makes a larger support burden on the parent company. And… yeah.
So most tech youtubers aren’t touching this with a ten foot pole. And LTT have a long history of spewing complete bullshit. Either people worship Linus for “not being afraid to cover a topic” or get angry and they get publicity for “another hot take”.
And basically every other tech youtuber just says “I am not at all qualified to talk about this subject”
This person has no idea what they’re talking about. I’m an EE based in Arizona. I work with a lot of people who used to work for Intel, NXP, On Semi, etc. Semiconductor Fabs tend to have a pretty intense work culture. But from what they tell me, TSMC is on a whole 'nother level, and TSMC can’t pay them enough to put up with it’s work culture and expectations. They have the skills but at the end of the day, for them, family and their sanity is more important.
Are there people who will thrive in such conditions? Absolutely, just like I personally know a guy who thrives working in an Amazon warehouse. However, from my experience, people who want to have families and not have their lives revolve around their jobs are not interest in working for TSMC.
(To a lesser degree every year it seems) In Software and Hardware design, Intel are the big dogs. In terms of fabs? They are woefully behind TSMC (although, there are efforts to narrow that gap and some of the new tech that has been publicly revealed is awesome).
And that is how it plays out in the field. If folk “aren’t good enough” to work for a big company (whether because they lack skills or, more frequently, don’t want to base their life around matching the corporate profile) they emphasize the bad. I am more on the software side than hardware, but the number of stories about how hellish it is to work at Google and Amazon('s software side) are insane. And almost always associated with “I could have gotten a job there, if I tried”. And yeah, there are a LOT of problems. Mostly at the lower level (which is comparable to most startup cultures and why people should REALLY look at “mid tier” companies and orgs to get their initial experience). Once you get to mid career, it is well within the normal range.
Which is more or less true for TSMC. Yeah, it is a factory job and those suck. But if you actually compare it to similar orgs (again, ignoring the hellscape that is Shenzhen and the like), they are generally "roughly average’. Worse in some regards, better in others. And, like I said, that SHOULD be unacceptable that this is “average” but… labor has problems the world around and nobody cares enough to stand up for it.
The Taiwanese were not born gods of semiconductors. They were one of the very first places we massively exported things to like Mexico. They were trained and educated over decades to get where they are now. Even if that was the issue it’s nothing that couldn’t be solved by education.
But the issue is that they aren’t going to sit on their hands while other countries/companies catch up. In part because “the semiconductor shield” is real. And also because… it is a LOT of money.
Branching out to other countries is… a choice. And I do hope it means we see more proliferation of skills. Because it is a major get for Intel to convince a Taiwanese engineer to move to Tel Aviv or whatever. It is a much smaller lift to convince someone to move from Arizona to New Mexico. Similarly, this has the potential to get TSMC a lot more in house designers for basically the opposite direction.
But this idea of “Oh, we can all learn. just give us time” is (generally) American Exceptionalism bullshit and a large part of how these incentives and tax breaks are being sold to politicians. Because, barring massive revolutions in processes, TSMC will still be on top even as the rest of the world becomes “competent”. And you can bet they’ll keep their best factories in Taiwan because, again, the semiconductor shield. But it will also mean that, when Xinnie the Pooh and china decide it is worth pissing away their economy to attack, the world doesn’t go back to the stone age. More like the bronze or iron.
Because if it were just a matter of pumping money and time into it? Jensen would be calling Intel about building the latest GPUs. Because I will definitely poke fun at how “far behind” Intel’s fabs are. But they are also actually REALLY good and some of the best on the planet. They just aren’t THE best and the big money is in being able to make those ridiculously fine grain processes and chips. And that is because Intel is very much still playing catch up with a moving target.
I worked in a semiconductor plant. There isn’t any special skill to it. You have a list that you do and nowadays the robots actually do all the difficult work.
In my time, you had to check and calculate by hand the offsets for the lithography machines. Now with it being done in self-contained robots because of the radiation x-ray process, a person just manages the robots.
Also, why isn’t the new Intel plant being built having the same issues with qualified workers?
I personally think it’s stupid to build a high water using plant in the middle of a desert, when the area hasn’t ever monitored the water table.
Finally, someone mentioning the water usage aspect for a plant being built in Arizona. A water intensive/critical process? Sure, set it up in a desert…
Intel recycles nearly 100% of the water they use, I’m sure TSMC will do something similar. They need to do a ridiculous amount of processing to make it suitable to return to the city supply anyways, so they just found a way to reuse
It’s not a choice though. It is an inevitability. The United States foolishly pushed everything off over there. Only now realizing how bad a mistake that was. And how silly it is for nearly all of that sort of product to originate in that region for no real reason. It would have always made sense for those products to be produced closer to the market that they are to be sold in if at all possible. And it has always been possible. There will be factories and Chip Manufacturing in the United States again soon. And yes it’s TSMC’s Choice ultimately whether or not they will be part of it. But it is happening.
To be clear I have a very low opinion of capitalists. And I 100% think that the heads of TSMC will act like short-sighted petulant children and probably screw themselves over in the long term.
And I don’t know where the hell the American exceptionalism BS came from. It has nothing to do with that. Any humans, basically anywhere in the world can potentially learn and be trained to do this. The biggest roadblock is the affordability of the equipment to do so currently. But every major country/region should be pushing right now to build their own ability to produce. Canada United States Brazil, the EU, Russia even, Australia, New Zealand. Especially looking into designing and building their own riskv technologies. It will happen eventually. But how bad capitalists respond to all this will determine ultimately how long they will be relevant.
The idea of “We just have to put our minds to it” is very much the foundation for American Exceptionalism. Anything we are good at, we are the best at. Anything we aren’t, we don’t care enough about.
As for: capitalism gonna capitalism. Maybe. But keep in mind that the Taiwanese government is the largest shareholder in TSMC. The concept of “the semiconductor shield” has increasingly become a core tenet of the defense against china. Because if it is in the entire world’s best interest that Taiwan not be leveled in a violent assault: World governments are likely to step in.
And, again, the idea that the rest of the world can “catch up” to today is very much a reality. The idea that TSMC is going to sit and wait for everyone is very much not. They are going to pump money into research, development, iteration, etc. Again, barring fundamental shifts in technology, they are going to be dominant for probably decades.
What various nations’ attempts at “catching up” is about is not overtaking TSMC. Part of it is about getting some of that nvidia money (which is becoming increasingly important as cars modernize). But mostly it is about preparing for being ostracized russia-style or TSMC being a giant crater. We won’t be able to make top of the line computer chips, but we might be able to keep some of our weaponry running.
It’s only American exceptionalism if it’s put in terms of americans. As I specifically stated I think any country can do this. There’s nothing special about Taiwan in this instance other than it already exists there. It used to exist in the US and Russia as well. It will again. Taiwan thinking it can, or that it’s good to maintain a monopoly. Is silly.
And again if Taiwan thinks that that’s going to save them. Which is a foolish thing to think. (China only wants them literally because they currently have a near Monopoly on manufacture. Diluting that Monopoly would actually make them safer) They’re going to be sorely disappointed. If China moved tonight. Not a single military unit would be dispatched to attack internationally. The US wastes the most money of any country on military and military equipment. But they aren’t going to deploy. China is threatening everyone around them with impunity. And the US/EU can’t threaten much more than hollow product boycotts. Because they’ve all handed over their nuts on a platter to exploit near slave labor in Xi’s authoritarian wonderland.
The best way to neuter Xi is for everyone to take back as much of China’s manufacturing as possible. And not concentrate it in the hands of an authoritarian dictator for a few bucks extra.
You have some good points but I’m not sure TSMC are looking for highly-skilled people to work at their off-site factory. I honestly believe that most, if not all high-skill positions would be filled by Chinese people. They need factory workers to keep the factory running, I seriously doubt they’d expect the US factory to be able to create anything new on its own in the foreseeable future.
But at any rate, your points also show that it’s not just the price at play here.
Lastly, I agree with you regarding LTT. I didn’t mean that they were bringing some insightful new information, just that it was the only place I saw it even being mentioned. I live in mainland China and see how Chinese companies treat employees, that’s where I got my replies from.
Okay, I kind of hinted at this but:
Taiwan is not China. Taiwanese people are not “Chinese”. Please stop mixing the two up. That is the kind of heinous shit that Xinnie the Poo does. If you are unable to respect a sovereign nation then, kindly, you don’t deserve to have an opinion and should shut the fuck up.
😂
Factories share some similar characteristics no matter where they are in the world. I’ve seen first-hand examples of it in a few countries and second-hand examples in many others.
Even places squarely “first world” such as Japan, South Korea or Singapore have very similar expectations for factory work, such as long hours in exchange for low salary.
You can keep being petulant and attempting to force your opinion on the subject, I’ve said what I had to.
You had to call Taiwanese people Chinese? Repeatedly?
They’re Chinese. They’re from the Republic of China.
Taiwanese people are ethnically Chinese.
That said, I don’t have a dog in that fight and don’t care one way or another whether Taiwan is considered part of China or a separate country.
You seem offended by that for some reason, so my last reply to you is: I first said Asian/Chinese. I wasn’t implying any political innuendo into the matter, I was merely referencing common Asian practices that I know are true in Taiwan as well as mainland China. Factories are factories, be it in mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, Africa or anywhere else. Stop trying to read offense where there isn’t.
And have a nice day.
They are “ethnically chinese” in the same way that Americans are “ethnically british”.
Except, no, that doesn’t work. Because there are a lot of different peoples in the US. Well, there are also Uyghurs in china… for the time being. So I guess that doesn’t work either.
But that is the thing about dog whistles. They fall apart under a modicum of scrutiny. Really, all they do is make people even dumber than the folk spewing them feel warm and fuzzy. So… probably not good for your social credit score that you are acknowledging how fucking stupid Xinnie the Pooh and the rest of his CCP goons are.
At this point it is crystal clear that you have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, but I’ll potentially waste some more time to type information that I believe are the most important to rebate your most wrong/insane claims.
First, you seem focused on Taiwan’s recent history (perhaps influenced by what you’ve seen regarding Hong Kong since 2019?), but Taiwan’s history is actually a lot longer than that. You can use this Wikipedia link as reference going forward if you at all plan on stopping being a non-sense-spewing piece of trash, but considering how that was just 1 Google search away from you and you still didn’t manage to do it, I don’t have hope for it.
Taiwan, much like the vast majority of East Asia (if not all of Asia) is not as diverse as the US, so your bullshit about Taiwan being ethnically Chinese is the same as the US being ethnically British is a great sign of you being completely clueless about what the hell you’re talking about.
Over 90% of its population is reported as Han Chinese by its own fucking government, so it is clear that there is absolutely nothing wrong with me saying that Taiwanese people are ethnically Chinese, while it is completely wrong for you to compare that statement to the bullshit that Americans are ethnically British. There are Americans who are, but that’s only one of the many minorities in that country. Meanwhile, 90%+ of Taiwanese people are Han Chinese, so please stop your nonsense.
Second, another useful link for you. Go read it. I don’t claim to be any sort of expert in Chinese/Taiwanese history, but I know enough to not state trash like you have been. Taiwan as we know it today is vastly the result of mainland Chinese people migrating to the island over political situations that happened less than 100 years ago. This fact adds even more credence to the point of Taiwanese people being ethnically Chinese.
And finally, as others have already told you, Taiwan calls itself Republic of China.
I hope you learn how to find answers to your confused mind before you speak and especially, before you attack others due to your own ignorance.
You have a nice life.
I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and just assume you think you are on reddit and the pinnacle of all wit and intelligence is “well ackshually”
And I’ll just sum it up for you:
So hey. I hope you find a way to live your life not spewing CCP propaganda. Or being a useful idiot.
Taiwan has been independent from the mainland since 1949. That’s 74 years. Were people in the US in 1850 ethnically British? Largely yes, and that’s with the US recieving massive migration from other countries, which Taiwan has not had.
The Taiwanese people speak Chinese, practice Chinese cultural traditions, call themselves the Republic of China many even to this day support reconciliation.
My understanding is that this isn’t even about making the semiconductors, this is just about building the factory in the first place. In this case, Taiwan’s expertise in making chips means fuck all.
Gamers Nexus recently did a really good video about paying contractors to build out their acoustic testing chamber. In theory, that is just “put foam on the walls” but they go into everything ranging from which spikes are foam versus metal, how cabling and ventilation are run, and even what is under the floor.
And that is where the expertise comes into play. Theoretically, any competent contractor can follow instructions and build a fab. If you ever meet a competent contractor, protect them with your life.
The reality is that TSMC is going to be constantly having to fly out their people to inspect construction work, indicate what needs to be redone, etc. At which point… why are they paying others to do stuff they need to redo anyway?
Modern fabs are some of the most complex things on the planet. They need to be if they are operating at the nanometer scale (let alone sub 10 nm scale… even accounting for the shenanigans that are used to define those scales for marketing purposes).)
I don’t understand your example. You don’t just tell someone “Hey, I want an acoustic testing chamber.”
Your “experts” are going to have the plans already made and the contractors build to that spec. The contractors don’t ‘decide where to use metal or foam. Your experts’ building plans should have that already in there, otherwise they aren’t much of an expert.
Have you ever worked with contractors?
Nothing is ever done truly to spec. And you also learn fun lessons about the ramifications of not specifying exactly what size and head screws to use on that cabinet. Every other cabinet said to use zinc plated square maxi-loc head 1.5 inch screws, but this cabinet didn’t specify so they actually used iron phillips head screws because they had extras. Or maybe that is actually a gang box and now you have the problem where there is not enough clearance to have a light switch on each side of a wall.
Now extrapolate that to something where minute differences can completely break processes months or years down the line.
The GN acoustic chamber is a good example of just what kind of thought goes into something like that. And that is caveman shit relative to a fab.
And just to be clear, this is not me shitting on contractors. A halfway decent contractor is way better at building stuff than I ever will be and it is important to actually specify anything you care about.
But also, as someone who needs to redo his floors because the folk the previous owners hired were grossly incompetent? Fuck them contractors.