TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Cultural differences have required more training and work requirement adjustments at the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) fab in Arizona.
According to a New York Times article published Friday (Aug. 9), TSMC has reduced the number of meetings and staff required to attend them after pushback from US employees. Citing staff at the site, the article said tensions between US and Taiwanese workers have seen more communications training rolled out for managers.
“We keep reminding ourselves that just because we are doing quite well in Taiwan doesn’t mean that we can actually bring the Taiwan practice here,” said Richard Liu, TSMC’s director of employee relations at the site.
About 2,200 Taiwanese staff currently work at the site. Liu said going forward the company plans to increase the number of US employees compared to Taiwanese.
He said this would be done to make the site sustainable. “Sustainable means that we cannot keep relying on Taiwan sending people here,” he said.
Three Taiwanese employees at the site said the company had tried to lessen the tensions by reducing the workload compared to what is expected in Taiwan. However, they said they were unsure if this would continue when the site becomes fully operational in 2025.
“Oh, my gosh, people work hard,” Jefferson Patz said, an engineer who received 18 months of training at TSMC’s Tainan site in 2021. Patz said that staff at the Arizona site have been expected to do work that is outside of their job description, which has not been received well by US employees.
TSMC’s Arizona venture has faced cultural differences and labor issues. In August 2023 the company said it would increase safety measures after union complaints, which included a petition to bar Taiwanese workers from the site.
Despite the setbacks, Taiwanese staff and their families are reportedly being warmly received by the wider community, and senior TSMC leaders have said they are happy with the Arizona site’s progress to date.
