TSMC was ‘dug the wall’ by Chinese companies, robbing more than 100 senior engineers

According to a report from Nikkei, two of the Chinese government-backed semiconductor manufacturers hired more than 50 engineers and executives from Taiwan chip group TSMC this year. Both companies are also attracting a large number of the world’s best researchers in the field of semiconductors, by offering extremely high income and compensation packages, with the main purpose of accelerating progress. development of China’s domestic chip industry.

Specifically, these two companies are Quanxin Integrated Circuit Manufacturing (QXIC) which was established in 2019, and Wuhan Hongxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (HSMC) was established in 2017. Both have not yet produced competitive products in the market, but have both received several billion dollars from the Chinese state budget to accelerate development. And both companies are being led by former executives from TSMC.

“HSMC has come up with some great income packages, 2 to 2.5 times TSMC’s total annual salary and bonus for those people,” said an anonymous source.

The main strategy of Chinese companies is to use their money to attract talent. Besides, there is the opening of nearby centers where talented people gather. For example, QXIC recently established a research and development laboratory next to the factory responsible for TSMC’s 5nm chip production line development in Taiwan. Of course, it will be a while before either of these companies is ready to make their own 5nm products. HSMC plans to roll out 14nm technology-based products to the domestic market by 2022.

Earlier in late 2019, a Nikkei report stated that Taiwan had lost about 3,000 chip engineers to the so-called “Made in China 2025” plan. And while TSMC may be the primary target, other chip companies could also face the risk of brain drain.

An executive in the chip industry said: “All governments in Asia, including Taiwan, need to think of the best ways to retain talent, as China can use it. Large capital markets, government subsidies and lucrative packages to attract workers. You can’t expect your employees to stay loyal forever if you don’t give enough incentives and opportunities.

“The giant TSMC may not feel immediate pain when they lose 100 employees, but some smaller chip developers may collapse if they lose only a few dozen employees,” he said. know more.

TSMC, the world’s leading manufacturer of contract chips, has become the target of rival chip companies in finding talent.

TSMC is confident that the loss of some employees won’t hurt them and emphasizes its under 5% sales rate. However, the company also expressed concern that its trade secrets are being shared with new competitors.

“As a company, TSMC competes as much as possible by law, but we do not slander our competitors and we respect the intellectual property rights of others. Likewise, we want to. Its suppliers and other companies respect TSMC’s intellectual property rights and will take appropriate protective actions , “said company representatives.

China’s chip talent is still in short supply, said Roger Sheng, an analyst at research firm Gartner, because the country is building many large projects at the same time.

“Not having enough talent is also a bottleneck for the growth of the semiconductor industry , “ he said. “Chinese chip projects are also struggling with each other to recruit talent and nurture those talents, especially in microelectronics, which is really time consuming. You can’t just do it. hire on some leaders and then suddenly be able to build and operate advanced chip facilities like rivals. “

Although this new business move by Chinese companies is certainly relevant, it also represents part of China’s “desperation” to develop its current chip industry. The US has banned TSMC from selling products to China’s largest technology company Huawei and Huawei will not survive unless it can access a supply of domestically produced chips.

Refer to Nikkei, Techspot