TSMC lost 100 veteran engineers to Chinese firms since 2019

Posted on Thursday, August 13 2020 @ 14:30 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
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Citing a report from Nikkei Asian Review, TechPowerUp writes about the war for semiconductor manufacturing talent in Asia. Apparently, two Chinese firms have managed to attract over 100 TSMC veteran engineers since 2019:
A Nikkei investigative report uncovered that two Chinese semiconductor fabrication firms, namely Quanxin Integrated Circuit Manufacturing (QXIC), and Hongxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (HSMC), have poached over 100 veteran semiconductor engineers from TSMC since last year. Both firms are recipients of government funding under China's ambitious plan of complete electronics hardware industry independence by 2025. Both firms were floated as recently as 2017, and began hiring specialist engineers and executives with connections across the semiconductor industry, from TSMC. The two began development of a 14 nm-class FinFET node that would support manufacturing of a wide variety of electronics components, including SoCs, ASICs, transceivers, and storage products.
In total, Nikkei Asian Review estimates a total of 3,000 Taiwanese semiconductor engineers left the island to pursue opportunities in China. Anonymous sources at TSMC say the firm is "very concerned" about the flight of talent, but that there's no immediate danger to the foundry's output or technological edge.


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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