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TSMC delays opening of Arizona plant.
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dobsonr741:
A tiny US fab is not going to put a dent into TSMC’s domination. This YouTuber has many posts on TSMC and quite enjoyable if you are into knowing how TSMC operates:

https://youtu.be/fRhfvSDyJdY
magic:

--- Quote from: floobydust on July 21, 2023, 06:59:21 pm ---"TSMC and its suppliers are in talks with the U.S. government to assist with the application process for non-immigrant visas in a bid to dispatch more than 500 experienced workers as early as July to expedite the construction of cleanroom facilities and the installation of pipelines and other equipment, three chip supply chain executives said […]
“There are not enough U.S. workers who have good first-hand experience specifically on building semiconductor manufacturing facilities, and many are not familiar with the requirements for chipmaking plants,” one executive told Nikkei. “That has caused delays in multiple installation works” […]
--- End quote ---
In the US, "shortage of skilled workers" is the magic password you say to the government which unlocks foreign workforce import.
tom66:

--- Quote from: dobsonr741 on July 22, 2023, 05:09:18 am ---I’m puzzled by the term skilled worker. For the construction of a site. A foundry has a well established structure, plans, processes - just need to apply to a new location. Then roll in the ASML machinery, bought and made elsewhere. A foundry does not need armies EEs to design chips - it’s a factory, not a design agency. They need skilled operators, that is trainable. Given operators trained on a certain process, the knowledge is also very specific to that process. Thus the training should also be part of the established foundry processes. Did I miss anything?

--- End quote ---

It was my understanding a great deal of the people who work at TSMC in the fabs do have masters or similar level degrees, some may even have PhD's.  These are highly technical fields, and it's not just replicating a single process, you have to adapt to the different process nodes, handle various customer requirements, service the machines and understand what might cause a process to fail or reduce yield.

Looking at Glassdoor, the lowest salary listed for "Equipment Operator" is $60k USD, and a senior engineer can get $120k.
Wallace Gasiewicz:
I have worked at a R&D facility that employed over 20K. I was and still am surprised at the pay scales. Skilled trades frequently make much more than engineers.You could see the decline of the industry before your very eyes.A janitor with overtime could make more than an engineer.
That is not an encouragement to go into engineering. I dropped out of engineering school partially because of this.
Pay scales for engineering have been far too low in my lifetime.Unfortunately this cannot be changed quickly since engineering is not just a junior college degree.
Concerning the operator's 60K, in my limited experience a worker in semiconductor industry is more like a skilled trade and skilled trades in auto plants make 60K and probably have much better benefits.

Concerning the Taiwan Semiconductor industry, there is one more important strategic point to make. If Taiwan and Japan do not continue to control the semiconductors, there is less reason for the US to defend them against incursion.
Stray Electron:

--- Quote from: magic on July 22, 2023, 06:08:32 am ---
--- Quote from: floobydust on July 21, 2023, 06:59:21 pm ---"TSMC and its suppliers are in talks with the U.S. government to assist with the application process for non-immigrant visas in a bid to dispatch more than 500 experienced workers as early as July to expedite the construction of cleanroom facilities and the installation of pipelines and other equipment, three chip supply chain executives said […]
“There are not enough U.S. workers who have good first-hand experience specifically on building semiconductor manufacturing facilities, and many are not familiar with the requirements for chipmaking plants,” one executive told Nikkei. “That has caused delays in multiple installation works” […]
--- End quote ---
In the US, "shortage of skilled workers" is the magic password you say to the government which unlocks CHEAP foreign H2 Visa workforce import.

--- End quote ---

   Fixed it for you. 
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