What Works in Taiwan Doesn’t Always in Arizona, a Chipmaking Giant Learns
What Works in Taiwan Doesn’t Always in Arizona, a Chipmaking Giant Learns
TSMC modeled its facility in Phoenix on one at home. But bringing the company’s complex manufacturing process to America has been a bigger challenge than it expected.
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American labor is too expensive for semiconductors. The local construction workers were unionized, and TSMC went out of state to look for construction workers. Semiconductors are something East Asians do best.
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In reading the article it sounds like the conflict -- or at least the one they highlight here -- is not of cost of labor but that workers aren't used to and won't tolerate TSMC's heavy-handed management approach.
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American labor is 50% more expensive than in Taiwan. The US doesn't have the skilled labor necessary to expand capacity. The attrition rate is high at 40% because the semiconductor market competes with other industries for the same labor, and American workers don't like the work culture. To retain workers, American fabs need to bid up prices. Semiconductors produced in the US will need to pass on their costs onto consumers, and demand for the final product is affected by prices, not just utility. Passing on costs onto consumers, governments subsidies will probably still be necessary many years into the future.
buy american!
unless it’s products and services that actually matter!
Hmm, that's one hell of a modlog you have there.