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In many instances, the HR team from TSMC in Taiwan sends HR in the U.S. the resumes of Asian/Taiwanese candidates in the United States that typically already have the ability to work in the U.S., who they have already vetted and found suitable for hire. The U.S. HR team then simply hires these Asian/Taiwanese candidates without question, even if no open roles have been posted in the U.S. In the rare instances when TSMC posts the job roles that these candidates ultimately fill, the jobs are posted for only a very short period of time, and candidates who apply are typically not reviewed or interviewed. The job postings are then summarily closed and the preferred Asian/Taiwanese candidates, who were referred by TSMC in Taiwan, are hired. Recruiters in the U.S. have also been explicitly instructed by the Taiwan Headquarters (“Taiwan HQ”) Global Recruitment Program Leaders that the goal for recruiting new graduates from U.S. universities is to hire primarily Asian candidates. As a result of these practices, Global Recruitment interview and hiring reports document a clear preference for Asian U.S. new graduate candidates and hires.
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When U.S. roles are posted as available, TSMC adds to the job posting that “Mandarin / Chinese” is either required, preferred, or “a plus” in the job posting. COMPLAINT is no legitimate business reason why such a requirement would be necessary—TSMC conducts business in English and requires proficiency in English not only for U.S. employees, but also for employees at TSMC headquarters in Taiwan and other countries in which TSMC operates. As such, a TSMC employee in the U.S. need not speak Mandarin / Chinese even if communicating with colleagues abroad. Rather, the requirement is used to attract TSMC’s preferred candidates (Asians and Taiwanese citizens) and to dissuade non-Asian candidates from applying to the roles. When nonAsian candidates do secure an interview, the hiring managers, most of whom are Asian, often make excuses to reject them to effectuate TSMC’s cultural preference for Asian employees. The above practices allow TSMC to effectuate its preference for candidates that are Asian and / or Taiwanese citizens without explicitly stating it and belie TSMC’s claims that it hires Asians and Taiwanese citizens due to a lack of U.S. talent in the semiconductor industry.
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Moreover, TSMC’s bias towards Asians and Taiwanese citizens extends not only to engineering positions, but also to HR and administrative roles and to lower-end technician jobs, such as jobs inspecting and maintaining equipment. With respect to lower-end technician jobs, TSMC reportedly requires minimal experience or qualifications from applicants in Taiwan for jobs in the U.S. COMPLAINT required U.S. hires to train in Taiwan for six months to a year (or longer) for these positions, a requirement that was designed to further TSMC’s goal of culling the pool of non-Asian prospective employees.
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TSMC’s bias in favor of Asians and Taiwanese citizens was even apparent when it was hiring construction workers to build its first Arizona fab (via TSMC affiliates United Integrated Services (UIS) and Marketech International Corp.). TSMC chairman Mark Liu complained of “an insufficient amount of skilled workers” to build the facility and planned to fly workers in from Taiwan. TSMC agreed to focus on local hiring for those positions only after massive and public outcry from Arizona labor unions. Second, non-Asian employees and non-Taiwanese citizens are frequently denied opportunities to advance and succeed at TSMC. Non-Asians and nonTaiwanese citizens are frequently excluded from business discussions, as conversations are often conducted in Mandarin, and business documents are routinely written in Mandarin. A related practice was acknowledged in the Q3 2023 U.S. HR Quarterly All-Hands meeting by Jen Kung, Head of Compensation, who casually commented on the use of “Chenglish” when Asians wanted to limit information being shared with non-Asians and/or to try to confuse them, and there was widespread agreement that “Chenglish” was commonly used in the organization, TSMC took no action to correct the practice.
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In engineering positions, non-Asians and non-Taiwanese citizens are denied training opportunities that would allow them to thrive. For instance, in the 2021 time frame, TSMC required U.S. hires to its Arizona fab to train in Taiwan, where they were, according to reports, excluded from “higher-level meetings conducted in Mandarin” and “rarely had a chance to handle problems themselves, and were mostly tasked with observing.” Back at the fab in Arizona, it was reported that “managers trusted Taiwanese workers with important tasks, starving the Americans of hands-on experience.” For instance, a Process Integration Engineer in Arizona stated that “an employee may be hired as an engineer [by TSMC,] but only taught technician-level jobs unless they are Taiwanese.” An employee at TSMC’s Washington fab complained that upper management “tends to play favorites with Taiwanese workers,” “favoring and assisting Taiwanese engineers.” Americans training for engineering positions in Taiwan reported of a meeting at which “a manager said Americans were less desirable than Taiwanese and Indian workers, according to people who saw leaked notes, which [were] circulated among trainees.”
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Employees have also complained that TSMC seems to encourage animosity between Taiwanese and U.S. employees, and have spoken of memorandums from higher management having surfaced that contained disparaging remarks about U.S. employees, who “are constantly seen as sub par.” Employees assert that TSMC has fostered a culture in which “Senior American leaders within the company are apprehensive about voicing concerns due to potential job repercussions from executives based in Taiwan.”
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Non-Asian employees and non-Taiwanese citizens are reviewed more harshly than their Asian colleagues (including those who are Taiwanese citizens), which inhibits their advancement in the company. Employees at TSMC are evaluated by their managers, and the available rankings are: Outstanding (O), High Satisfactory (S+), Satisfactory (S), and Needs Improvement (I). Asian employees and Taiwanese citizens are consistently ranked higher than non-Asian employees and non-Taiwanese citizens. At TSMC North America, a rating of S or below has significant implications, as rating is a factor in calculating an employee’s Annual Bonus payout (with higher bonuses being paid to those with ratings of S+ and O), and employees who receive ratings of S or below are less likely to be promoted (and receive lower bonuses) and more likely to be forced to leave the company (or are eventually terminated). For example, in 2023 Taiwanese “assignees”—visa workers from Taiwan—were particularly favored in ratings and did not receive ratings of less than S in the 2023 review cycle, even if they performed poorly. In addition, they received their expected bonuses regardless of their performance ratings, and, if they were identified to be failing, were simply transferred to another role or another TSMC location. It is understood that Asian employees (particularly Taiwanese assignees/citizens) receive a +1 factor for every aspect of being at TSMC to include job assignments, performance ratings, and bonus payouts
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Aiya, it's just some 人情世故 齁, 懂不懂 la? If there was no 人情, then there will be 事故.

siegecrossbow said:
Maybe they discriminate against people who suck at their jobs?
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I suspect TSMC is smarter than that and this is a deliberate play to foil US plan to take away Taiwan's silicon shield.
 
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