The world’s largest chipmaker promised to create thousands of US jobs. There are growing tensions over whether US workers have the skills or work ethic to do them.::Jobs at the TSMC semiconductor factory in Arizona could require long hours and total obedience. Americans may push back on the company’s culture.
The comment in this thread are a good summary of why TSMC has concerns. I fully support workers rights of course. But from TSMC’s perspective, WHY would they want to put up with all our ‘crap’ when they can continue operating in Taiwan with their standard practices?
Because they don’t want to lose grasp on the chip market. Semiconductors will be made in the US. Better for them to capture the market than try to compete with it.
Also, why should we put up with their crap? The whole point is to diversify where we get semiconductors and not be so dependent on Asia. We actually need to figure this out in a way that doesn’t result in underpaid Americans.
US semiconductors can’t compete. Intel is stumbling, GloFo pulled out, and the other foundries are irrelevant for bleeding edge process.
TSMC has already won the competition.
Yes, but how many Americans will be selling to pay 50% more for locally made processors?
You’re not wrong, I’m just trying to point out this is a complicated issue, beyond just ‘capitalists bad’
If you ask me, you are only taking the capitalist perspective by focusing solely on the fact that TSMC can do this cheaper elsewhere and doesn’t need America. That’s explicitly not the point of this whole exercise. It’s not an exercise in capitalism, it’s to start to reduce our dependency on other nations. That’s a national security risk that became painfully obvious during the Pandemic.
I agree it is a complicated issue and it’s not even really being presented as capitalists are bad. The way the headlines are being run is trying to claim that we lack the skillset in America, which is not true. We lack the skillset at a cheap price because cost of living and labor are higher in the US. Bringing an entire industry home is going to be complicated in a lot of aspects. We haven’t even started tackling the environmental stuff publicly.
Localization makes up for a large portion of the increased labor costs. The cost of production difference is most likely to be a wash because it’s spread across the output of millions of chips.
Because America isn’t an island that’s a stones throw away from the world’s second largest superpower which has made it abundantly clear that they believe belongs to them?
And TSMC will be renamed to SMIC overnight.
Fair point however I would rather have chip dependance than exploitation
Because we have them money to do it.