台积电美国麻烦剧增 成本高 员工水土不服

没吸引力，美国工程师不愿跳槽台积电

作者：朱秩磊 来源：爱集微  2022-12-07

集微网消息，12月6日台积电亚利桑那州新厂移机典礼政商贵宾云集，赚足全球目光。然而，当地工程师却对众人趋之若鹜的台积电兴趣缺缺，愿意跳槽的工程师寥寥无几。

据台媒报道，在台积电新厂所在地凤凰城的一家国防企业工作的工程师表示，他本人就来自中国台湾，深谙台积电的企业文化，而在美国工作已超过30年的他早已更适应当地慢节奏的职场气氛，“去台企工作已经拼不动了”。他还透露，虽然台积电在华人眼中是不得了的存在，但是其美国同事对该公司并不了解，“只知道有一家台湾来的企业在凤凰城大手笔投资”，“他们似乎也没有跳槽的想法”。

另一位在英特尔工作的工程师则表示，台积电虽然技术很先进，但是始终是一家代工厂，其为苹果、AMD、高通、英伟达等生产的芯片最终也是贴后者的牌，消费者记住的只有苹果。“所以美国的工程师并不会认为在台积电工作是多大的荣誉，薪资如果不是足够高，没理由要跳槽。”

另外，初入职场的新人也对台积电没有什么兴趣。

台积电也向美国政府表达了在美建厂面临包括人才短缺在内的六大挑战。其在美国以远高于中国台湾地区的成本招募的工程专业毕业生，还是得送到台湾培训一到一年半，最近一批在台湾培训的美国新员工就因为“水土不服”而被本地的员工形容为“巨婴”。

台积电美国工厂麻烦越来越大：成本高昂，员工水土不服

卜淑情02-23 23:06

 

美国建厂成本是台湾的四倍，这项价值400亿美元的投资似乎不太划算。

台积电美国亚利桑那州工厂明年即将投产，然而，在许多员工看来，这项价值400亿美元的投资是一项糟糕透顶的商业决策。

根据媒体近期对11名台积电员工的采访，台积电内部对于美国工厂的质疑声越来越多。许多员工表示，美国项目可能会使台积电偏离研发重心，而这正是这家芯片巨头长期以来的竞争力所在。另外，一些员工因为文化冲突不愿意移居美国。

不仅如此，建厂和运营成本高企也为美国项目造成了巨大压力，或进一步损害台积电的盈利能力。

员工管理阻碍重重

去年11月初，台积电包机把近300名员工送往美国，以作为台积电赴美的先头部队，后续预计还将有1000名员工陆续迁往美国。

但如今才过去3个月，一些员工就出现了“水土不服”的症状。

一些接受媒体采访的台积电工程师表示，对如何协调中美员工感到忧心忡忡。他们表示，在台湾，工程师工作时间长，周末还要轮班，自嘲他们在为芯片制造商“卖肝”，但美国员工可能不太愿意做出这样的牺牲。

一位去年离开台积电的工程师向媒体表示，他曾考虑过加入台积电的海外扩张计划，但他意识到有可能不得不替美国员工收拾他们未完成的工作，便失去了兴趣。

“生产晶圆最难的不是技术，”他直言，“最难的是人事管理。美国人在这方面做得最差，因为美国人是最难管理的。”

还有一位工程师说，一些美国人完成多项任务时表现不佳，有时会拒绝接受新任务，而不是更加努力地完成所有任务。在接受媒体采访的11名员工中，有8名员工均表示，中国员工认为他们在美国工厂承担的责任比美国员工更大。

对于如何协调海内外员工，台积电发言人高孟华回应媒体称，台积电正在加强员工培训，帮助海外人才融入集团文化。她说，公司将“积极倾听意见，并在需要时做好改变的准备”。

一项并不划算的生意？

2020年5月，台积电宣布在美国亚利桑那州的菲尼克斯市建厂，最初承诺120亿美元，去年12月，也就是拜登通过《芯片和科学法案》的四个月后，台积电宣布将投资加码至400亿美元，成为该公司在海外的最大一笔投资。

在宣布加码投资的同时，台积电还宣布二期工程将于2026年开始导入3纳米制程技术，一期工程预计将于明年开始导入4纳米制程技术。

然而，这一雄心勃勃的投资计划并不被业内人士看好。

“从商业角度来讲，台积电在美国的投资是不合理的，”曾做过科技分析师的柯克兰资本董事长Kirk Yang表示，理由是成本高昂，Yang还认为美国项目对台积电的好处微乎其微。

在上个月的财报电话会议上，台积电预计，受人力开支、许可证、合规性和通货膨胀的影响，美国的建厂成本可能至少是台湾的四倍。台积电首席财务官黄仁昭表示，美国项目可能会损害台积电今年的盈利能力。

“台积电已经意识到到台湾晶圆厂与海外晶圆厂之间存在成本差距，”高孟华说。不过她表示公司仍预计长期毛利率强劲。

台积电美国工厂项目引发内部质疑

JOHN LIU, 孟建国

2023年2月23日

台湾积体电路制造公司正在升级和扩建其位于菲尼克斯的工厂，这是美国科技战略的重要项目。 ADRIANA ZEHBRAUSKAS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

 

作为全球最大的先进计算机芯片制造商，台湾积体电路制造公司正在升级和扩建位于亚利桑那州的新厂，承诺帮助美国迈向更自主的科技未来。

但在该公司的一些人看来，这个耗资400亿美元的项目则是另一回事：一个糟糕的商业决策。

根据对11名台积电员工的采访，这家台湾芯片制造商对其美国工厂的内部质疑越来越多。因为不能公开谈及此事，这些员工均要求匿名。许多员工表示，该项目可能会分散对研发的关注，而这正是该公司长期以来的竞争力所在。一些人还说，因为可能存在文化冲突，他们对移居美国犹豫不决。

这些人的担忧凸显了台积电的棘手处境，作为全球最大的芯片制造商，该公司的产品驱动着从手机到汽车再到导弹的一切，掌握了令人梦寐以求的专有技术，具有重要的战略意义。但随着美中对技术主导地位的争夺不断加剧，台积电试图对冲风险，却发现其举措正在制造新的紧张。

台积电在菲尼克斯北部郊区扩建工厂，旨在将先进微芯片生产带到美国，避开与中国的任何潜在对峙。然而这一努力引发了内部担忧，高昂的成本和管理上的挑战表明，将人类有史以来最复杂的制造工艺之一移植到地球另一端是极其困难的。

台积电亚利桑那工厂背负着必须成功的巨大压力。失败意味着美国培育先进芯片制造业的努力受挫，这一行业在几十年前就已大部分转移亚洲，而台积电要对一家无法生产足够可用芯片的工厂投入无数资金，得不偿失。

台积电最初承诺向亚利桑那项目投资120亿美元，在去年又增加到400亿美元。 T.J. KIRKPATRICK FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

 

“台积电在美国投资从商业的角度来讲是不合理的，”曾做过科技分析师的柯克兰资本董事长杨应超(Kirk Yang)表示，他给出的理由是成本高昂。他还说，台积电可能是出于政治考虑被迫在美国设厂，但“到目前为止，菲尼克斯项目对台积电或台湾的好处是微乎其微的”。

在近年来全球对芯片生产地缘政治的担忧日益加深之际，亚利桑那项目是台积电对相关忧虑的首次重大让步，这种担忧一定程度上源于中国对台湾的敌对姿态和芯片短缺的出现。

这家芯片巨头多年来将大部分工厂设在台湾，目前也在日本修建厂房。据两位知情人透露，欧洲政策制定者已经出台了吸引台积电建厂的项目，公司正处于就建厂事宜做出决定的最后阶段。

台积电发言人高孟华没有直接回应对于投资亚利桑那的内部担忧。但她在电子邮件中声明，在美建厂的决定基于多种因素，包括客户需求、市场机遇和挖掘全球人才的机会。

高孟华还表示，台积电正在加强员工培训，帮助海外人才融入集团文化。她说，公司将“积极倾听意见，并在需要时做好改变的准备”。

芯片由像这样的硅片制成，这项基本技术可为电脑、冰箱、手机等许多其他物品提供动力。 LAM YIK FEI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

 

台积电于2020年5月宣布在亚利桑那州建厂，最初承诺投入120亿美元。去年12月，该公司将投资增加到400亿美元，并计划用更先进的——虽然不是最先进的——芯片制造技术升级工厂。预计该工厂将于2024年开始生产微芯片，公司表示稍后将在该地增设第二家工厂。

项目面临着挑战。在上个月的财报电话会议上，台积电表示，受人力开支、许可证、合规性和通货膨胀的影响，美国的建设成本可能至少是台湾的四倍。台积电首席财务官黄仁昭表示，美国建厂投资可能会损害台积电今年的盈利能力。

“台积电认识到台湾晶圆厂与海外晶圆厂之间存在成本差距，”高孟华说。她还说，公司仍预计长期毛利率强劲。

台积电还需要附近的供应商为亚利桑那工厂提供原材料、设备和关键部件。然而，一些试图参与的供应商表示，他们遇到了人力困难和高成本。

化学品供应商长春亚利桑那投资3亿美元在亚利桑那州卡萨格兰德建厂，距离菲尼克斯约一小时车程，其总裁苏裕弘表示，这里的建造成本是台湾的10倍。他说，成本高是因为对美国法规和建筑许可不够熟悉，以及生产材料供应不足。

站在台湾台南的一家台积电工厂外的美国员工。 一些台湾员工表示，他们担心与美国员工的文化差异。 LAM YIK FEI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

 

这家台湾芯片巨头的工程和建筑承包商中鼎工程的董事长杨宗兴表示，亚利桑那工厂的建设成本“远远超出”他的客户的预期。他说，除了不断上升的通货膨胀之外，这家芯片制造商还在与英特尔竞争——后者也在亚利桑那州扩张——争夺技术工人和建筑设备。

“一开始的这个quotation（报价）当然我的业主是说：‘你疯了啊’，就是这样子嘛，”杨宗兴说。

一些台积电工程师表示，亚利桑那工厂的美国和台湾员工融合问题让他们担心。他们说，在台湾，工程师工作时间长，周末轮班，开玩笑说他们在“卖肝”为芯片制造商工作。他们说，美国员工可能不太愿意做出这样的牺牲。

去年离开台积电的工程师韦恩·邱表示，他曾考虑过加入该公司的海外扩张计划，但他意识到有可能不得不替美国员工收拾他们未完成的工作，便失去了兴趣。

“晶圆制造最困难的不是技术，”他说。“最难的是人事管理。美国人在这方面做得最差，因为美国人是最难管理的。”

培训美国工程师的三名台积电员工表示，很难让他们做到标准化。他们说，台湾工人二话不说就会去照做，但美国员工向经理提出挑战，质疑是否有更好的方法。

亚利桑那州台积电的一位工程师说，一些美国人在分配多项任务时表现不佳，有时会拒绝接受新任务，而不是更加努力地完成所有任务。八名员工表示，台湾员工认为在菲尼克斯工作的人将承担比美国同事更大的责任。

台南芯片厂。台积电创始人过去曾表示，台湾为公司提供了美国无法比拟的优势。 LAM YIK FEI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

 

台积电20多年前的第一笔美国投资，也具有警示意义。

 

1990年代后期，台积电创始人张忠谋推行了一项雄心勃勃的海外扩张计划，并在华盛顿州创建了芯片制造子公司Wafer Tech。张忠谋去年在布鲁金斯学会的播客中说，尽管承诺在那里建立多家工厂，但在经历了包括高成本和熟练劳动力短缺在内的“一系列出乎意料的糟糕经历”后，他在建成第一个工厂后停了下来。

 

张忠谋曾质疑美国重塑全球半导体供应链的努力，他在2021年的一个公开论坛上表示，台积电成功背后的台湾优势无法在美国复制。

 

在布鲁金斯学会的播客中，他还指出，美国政府根据CHIPS法案指定的520亿美元补贴不足以启动该行业。CHIPS法案是一项旨在刺激国内先进芯片生产的联邦资助计划。他称之为“徒劳无益的昂贵实践”。

 

但在台积电去年12月宣布扩建菲尼克斯工厂时，张忠谋似乎改变了想法。他说，这一次，公司“准备得更充分”。

 

在给《纽约时报》的一封电子邮件中，张忠谋表示，他坚持他在去年播客和12月在亚利桑那州举行的活动中的言论。他拒绝进一步置评。

“晶圆制造最难的不是技术，”前台积电员韦恩·邱说。 “最难的是人事管理。” LAM YIK FEI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

 

John Liu于2021年加入时报，负责报道中国新闻。此前他在《缅甸时报》任记者，并为国际新闻机构报道台湾方面的新闻。欢迎在Twitter上关注他：@JohnLiuNN。

孟建国(Paul Mozur)是时报科技记者。他主要报道亚洲科技和地缘政治的交叉议题。他曾两次入围普利策奖。欢迎在Twitter上关注他： @paulmozur。

翻译：纽约时报中文网

 

Inside Taiwanese Chip Giant, a U.S. Expansion Stokes Tensions

Employee doubts are rising about Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s $40 billion investment in an Arizona factory.

 

 

 

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is upgrading and expanding a factory it is building in Phoenix, a vital project for U.S. tech strategy.Credit...Adriana Zehbrauskas for The New York Times

 

By John Liu and Paul Mozur

John Liu and Paul Mozur, who are based in Seoul, interviewed dozens of semiconductor experts on the geopolitics of Taiwan's chip making.

 

Feb. 22, 2023

 

 

 

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s biggest maker of advanced computer chips, is upgrading and expanding a new factory in Arizona that promises to help move the United States toward a more self-reliant technological future.

But to some at the company, the $40 billion project is something else: a bad business decision.

Internal doubts are mounting at the Taiwanese chip maker over its U.S. factory, according to interviews with 11 TSMC employees, who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Many of the workers said the project could distract from the research and development focus that had long helped TSMC outmaneuver rivals. Some added that they were hesitant to move to the United States because of potential culture clashes.

Their concerns underline TSMC’s tricky position. As the biggest maker of chips that power everything from phones to cars to missiles, the company is strategically important with highly coveted technical know-how. But caught in a deepening battle between the United States and China over technological leadership, TSMC has tried to hedge its bets — only to find that its actions are creating new kinds of tensions.

Its factory expansion in the northern outskirts of Phoenix is meant to bring advanced microchip production closer to the United States and away from any potential standoff with China. Yet the effort has stoked internal apprehension, with high costs and managerial challenges showing how difficult it is to transplant one of the most complicated manufacturing processes known to man halfway across the world.

The pressure for the Arizona factory to succeed is immense. Failure would mean a setback for U.S. efforts to cultivate the advanced chip manufacturing that mostly moved to Asia decades ago. And TSMC would have spent billions on a plant that did not produce enough viable chips to make it worth the effort.

Image  TSMC initially pledged $12 billion toward the Arizona project and increased that to $40 billion last year.Credit...T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times

“TSMC’s investment in the U.S. from a business perspective makes no sense at all,” said Kirk Yang, chairman of the private equity firm Kirkland Capital and a former tech analyst, citing lofty costs. He added that TSMC might have been forced to set up a factory in the United States because of political considerations, but “so far, the Phoenix project has yielded very little benefit for TSMC or Taiwan.”

The Arizona project is TSMC’s first major concession to rising global concerns in recent years about the geopolitics of chip production, driven partly by fears over China’s hostile posture to Taiwan and over a chip shortage.

The chip giant, which has long had almost all its factories in Taiwan, is now also building a facility in Japan. European policymakers have rolled out plans to attract a TSMC factory, and the company is in the final stages of making a decision about that plant, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

Nina Kao, a TSMC spokeswoman, did not directly address the internal concerns over the Arizona investment. But in an email, she said the decision on the U.S. factory location had been based on various factors, including customer demand, market opportunity and the chance to tap global talent.

The Global Race for Computer Chips

• A Ramp-Up in Spending: Amid a tech cold war with China, U.S. companies have pledged nearly $200 billion for chip manufacturing projects since early 2020. But the investments have limits.
• Crackdown on China: The United States has been aiming to prevent China from becoming an advanced power in chips, issuing sweeping restrictions on the country’s access to advanced technology.
• Arizona Factory: Internal doubts are mounting at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s biggest maker of advanced chips, over its investment in a new factory in Phoenix.
• CHIPS Act: The sprawling $280 billion bill passed by U.S. lawmakers last year gives the federal government new sway over the chips industry.

Ms. Kao added that TSMC was strengthening its training to integrate overseas talent into its corporate culture. The company will “actively listen and provide change where needed,” she said.

Image  Chips, which are made from silicon wafers like this one, are a foundational technology and help power computers, refrigerators, phones and many other items.Credit...Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times

TSMC announced the Arizona factory in May 2020, initially pledging $12 billion toward it. In December, the company increased that to $40 billion, with plans to upgrade the factory with more advanced — though not the most advanced — chip-making technology. The plant is expected to begin producing microchips by 2024, and the company said it would later add a second factory to the site.

The project is challenging. In an earnings call last month, TSMC said the U.S. construction could be at least four times the cost in Taiwan, driven by labor expenses, permits, regulatory compliance and inflation. Wendell Huang, TSMC’s chief financial officer, said the American investment could hurt TSMC’s profitability this year.

“TSMC recognizes that there is a cost gap between fabs in Taiwan and those overseas,” Ms. Kao said, using shorthand for a fabrication plant, or factory. She added that the company still anticipated robust gross margins over the long term.

TSMC also needs suppliers close by to provide the Arizona plant with raw materials, equipment and critical parts. Yet some suppliers that are trying to join it there said they were experiencing labor challenges and high costs.

Calvin Su, the president of Chang Chun Arizona, a chemical supplier that invested in its own $300 million factory in Casa Grande, Ariz., about an hour’s drive from Phoenix, said its factory construction cost was 10 times the cost in Taiwan. The costs were fueled by an unfamiliarity with U.S. regulations and building permits, as well as an insufficient supply of production materials, he said.

Image An American worker pausing outside a TSMC factory in Tainan, Taiwan. Some Taiwanese employees said they were concerned about cultural differences with U.S. workers.Credit...Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times

Michael Yang, chairman of the CTCI Corporation, an engineering and construction contractor for the Taiwanese chip giant, said the Arizona factory’s construction cost was “far beyond” his client’s expectation. On top of rising inflation, the chip maker is competing with Intel — which is also expanding in Arizona — for skilled labor and construction equipment, he said.

“When we reported our quotation in the beginning, the client replied: ‘Are you insane?’ But that’s just the way it is,” Mr. Yang said.

Some TSMC engineers said they were concerned about how the Arizona factory would blend American and Taiwanese employees. In Taiwan, engineers work long hours and weekend shifts, joking that they “sell liver” to work for the chip manufacturer, they said. Such sacrifices may be less appealing to employees in the United States, they said.

Wayne Chiu, an engineer who left TSMC last year, said he had thought about joining the company’s overseas expansion drive but lost interest after realizing he would likely have to pick up the slack for U.S. hires.

“The most difficult thing about wafer manufacturing is not technology,” he said. “The most difficult thing is personnel management. Americans are the worst at this, because Americans are the most difficult to manage.”

Three TSMC employees who trained American engineers said it was difficult to standardize practices among them. While Taiwanese workers unquestioningly follow what they are told to do, American employees challenged managers, questioning if there might be better methods, they said.

Some Americans struggled when assigned multiple tasks, sometimes rejecting a new assignment instead of working harder to complete everything, one TSMC engineer in Arizona said. Taiwanese workers believe that those who work in Phoenix will shoulder greater responsibilities than their American colleagues, eight employees said.

Image  The Tainan chip factory. TSMC’s founder said in the past that Taiwan provided the company with advantages that couldn’t be matched in the United States.Credit...Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times

TSMC’s first American investment more than two decades ago has also served as a cautionary tale.

In the late 1990s, Morris Chang, the company’s founder, pushed an ambitious overseas expansion plan and created a chip-making subsidiary, WaferTech, in Washington State. Despite pledging to build multiple factories there, Mr. Chang stopped at one after “a series of ugly surprises,” including high costs and a shortage of skilled labor, he said in a podcast with the Brookings Institution last year.

Mr. Chang has questioned the U.S. effort to reshape the global semiconductor supply chain, saying at a public forum in 2021 that the advantages in Taiwan underlying TSMC’s success could not be replicated in the United States.

In the Brookings Institution podcast, he also argued that the $52 billion in U.S. government subsidies earmarked by the CHIPS Act, a federal funding package to stoke domestic production of advanced chips, would not be enough to jump-start the industry. He called it an “expensive exercise in futility.”

But at TSMC’s announcement of the Phoenix factory expansion in December, Mr. Chang appeared to have come around. This time, he said, the company is “far more prepared.”

In an email to The New York Times, Mr. Chang said he stood by his remarks in last year’s podcast and at the December event in Arizona. He declined to comment further.

Image “The most difficult thing about wafer manufacturing is not technology,” said Wayne Chiu, a former TSMC worker. “The most difficult thing is personnel management.”Credit...Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times