Nearly half of hired workers for the new Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) plant in Phoenix, Arizona are reportedly Taiwanese nationals assigned to the new facility, and are not American citizens or local to Arizona, according to a new report published by the Financial Times on Wednesday.
The troubled TSMC installation has been touted as a major achievement of President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats, but the Financial Times reveals that “almost half of those hired so far are assignees sent from Taiwan,” quoting two sources familiar with TSMC.
The Taiwanese company has reportedly hired about 2,200 people for its Arizona facility, meaning up to 1,100 Taiwanese nationals are slated to work in Phoenix. TSMC expects to employ a total of 4,500 at its two Phoenix fabrication plants when they are complete.
The Biden campaign seemed to reference the controversial TSMC plant in a television commercial that continues to air across Arizona markets. In the commercial, a narrator credits “the laws that Joe Biden got passed” for making the construction of semiconductor factories possible in Arizona.
While the CHIPS Act provided nearly $300 billion to fund and research manufacturing of semiconductors in the United States, the CHIPS Act also requires companies like TSMC to hire American citizens to work at the facility.
That requirement became controversial earlier this year, beginning when the company blamed inexperienced local workers after announcing the completion of construction on its first facility would be delayed from 2024 to 2025. When the company announced plans to bring Taiwanese construction workers to Arizona in a bid to rapidly finish the facility, a local union circulated a petition urging the Biden administration to act.
Additionally, industry website 9to5Mac explains it is now “unlikely” that TSMC will pursue the Arizona expansion it originally discussed when entering the state.
Though the company is constructing the two plants it promised, the Biden administration previously asked TSMC to add another four plants, and Financial Times reports that executives “at TSMC suppliers” no longer believe “the company will build out all six phases” of its initial plan.
Financial Times pointed to cultural differences as the root cause of TSMC’s problems in Arizona, noting the construction of a similar facility in Japan “is going much more smoothly than in the US.” A TSMC engineer agreed, telling the outlet that Japanese and Taiwanese cultures “are closer to each other” and have a “similar manufacturing mindset and work ethic.”
Other reports have revealed the company does not intend to produce complete semiconductors in the United States, and instead will ship incomplete products from Arizona to Taiwan for the final “packaging” process. TSMC is also reportedly asking to delay deliveries of high end equipment to its Arizona facility, though this may indicate industry-wide issues.
TSMC produces semiconductors, components that are widely used in most modern electronics, for major electronics manufacturers including Apple.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Georgia Star News and a reporter for the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Workers” by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
