There's a lot of things you should not enter if you are not strongly willed for 24/7 operation and appropriate readiness.
>common complaints mention:
Heavy workloads
Poor training
Long hours
High expectations from bosses / supervisors
Limited breaks
Work-life balance issues
‘Military style’ controlling atmosphere
Stress
>12-hour days being standard practice
Poor training & undue stress are inexcusable, but the remaining factors must not be the cause of either when suitable workers are involved, and should not be complained about.
You need a hell of a lot more effective discipline than in the military, and it needs to be inner discipline so nothing overwhelming has to be imposed in a controlling way. The atmosphere of a well-oiled machine is by far most effective when no-one is barking orders whatsoever.
It's not supposed to be something that just anybody can do, especially not do well.
Vs. doing a quick web search just now, for what it's like to work in an Intel fab - the top (relevant) search result is a Glassdoor review headlined "don't work in the fab".
To what degree is Intel's less-bad Glassdoor rating (mentioned in the article) a result of "Intel's fabs are almost as bad, but they have lots of non-fab employees in the U.S., to dilute those downvotes..."?
One underrated factor behind poor work conditions in SC is that the industry is highly concentrated, with often only one or two dominant players playing a critical role in process. ASML on lithography, TSMC as foundry etc. This effectively means that employees don't have comparable, competitor employers to go to - where else do you go if you are a TSMC engineer? Hence, surprisingly labour has a weak negotiating position, resulting in very hard working conditions
Yup! It’s not enough to do something that’s hard to obtain a good life - there needs to be more open roles than people able to fill them in your line of work.
This does just sound like market forces justified with ideology. TSMC is signalling that you better love it because it ain't gonna compensate you properly.
The games industry is the same from the other direction (excess of willing labor).
Right? There is no shortage of workers, just a shortage of workers willing to tolerate bullshit. Let industries that operate like this this bleed out until they change their ways.
Cool. Thats why many dont. No one wants to work in such conditions and no one should. Wondering if he’s going to be as cocky when taiwan will need western help against china.
> No one wants to work in such conditions and no one should.
Honestly, I would if the pay is good and it doesn’t alternate on a weekly basis. When I was working at Amazon we had weekly alternating shifts and they are the worst. It would’ve been better if the time interval between shifts would be longer, like 5 weeks, so for example you work 5 weeks night shift, 5 weeks early shift, 5 weeks late shift and then 5 weeks night shift again.
I can see why something as capital intensive as semiconductors would need shifts, to use equipment as close to 24/7 as possible. But many other aspects of the working conditions are pretty bad, and not justified by the pay nor efficiency gains, I'd think. The enthusiasm that TSMC seems to think employees should have for their employer (in this and other articles) is off-putting, though explicable for a firm that is a standard-bearer for Taiwan, and at least in part a national project with symbolic significance there.
20 comments
[ 15.8 ms ] story [ 65.4 ms ] thread>common complaints mention:
>12-hour days being standard practicePoor training & undue stress are inexcusable, but the remaining factors must not be the cause of either when suitable workers are involved, and should not be complained about.
You need a hell of a lot more effective discipline than in the military, and it needs to be inner discipline so nothing overwhelming has to be imposed in a controlling way. The atmosphere of a well-oiled machine is by far most effective when no-one is barking orders whatsoever.
It's not supposed to be something that just anybody can do, especially not do well.
To what degree is Intel's less-bad Glassdoor rating (mentioned in the article) a result of "Intel's fabs are almost as bad, but they have lots of non-fab employees in the U.S., to dilute those downvotes..."?
The games industry is the same from the other direction (excess of willing labor).
What is a "TSMC engineer" ? Electronics engineers can find work in other companies.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/19/us/politics/semiconductor... | http://archive.is/4iazV
Honestly, I would if the pay is good and it doesn’t alternate on a weekly basis. When I was working at Amazon we had weekly alternating shifts and they are the worst. It would’ve been better if the time interval between shifts would be longer, like 5 weeks, so for example you work 5 weeks night shift, 5 weeks early shift, 5 weeks late shift and then 5 weeks night shift again.