Taiwanese will use eastern labor to make up for the lack of western skills, but not everyone likes it.
The United States has invested relatively large amounts of resources in getting TSMC to set up a state-of-the-art chip factory in the country, and the Fab 21 mass production plant is being prepared in full swing. The Arizona plant itself, designed for the 5nm class contract, was already completed in the middle of the year, and the equipment is currently being installed, which will initially be able to process twenty thousand wafers per month, but with subsequent expansions, up to one hundred thousand wafers per month. the month.
Mass production was originally scheduled to begin early next year, but TSMC previously said there simply wasn’t enough skilled labor in the US to do so. The contract manufacturer will bridge the problem by bringing its own Taiwanese workforce to the United States, who will ensure the initial commissioning of the plant and train local workers in the process. However, this requires a proper work visa, which must be issued by the USA, but many organizations are protesting against this and asking people to try and make it more difficult to issue the necessary visas with their local representatives.
There is a reason for the above, as the plant is being built under the Chip and Science Act, and its purpose is to favor the employment of local labor. By the way, TSMC assures that it respects the law, that the plant under construction will have approximately 12,000 employees, and only 500 Taiwanese specialists will be brought in to be able to start the plant and ensure the appropriate level of training for the local population. By the way, the dispute is unfortunate because the opening of the plant may be delayed until 2025, which is short of the originally set deadline.
