Pros: Zero Nada Zilch

Cons: Recently, there were just screenshots of a leaked message from a Taiwanese chat group on Teams that got translated and sent around the company. The screenshot said, and the translation said, that basically the Taiwanese said that the Americans are incompetent. And that the Taiwanese and Indian engineers are far superior to any American. They said, "If you're American and you don't like the culture and you don't like them speaking in Chinese, then you just need to get out of the company." The Taiwanese have repeatedly said that they are better. They have private chat rooms talking about how they think they are smarter and better than everyone. It is completely top-down racism. If you are not Taiwanese, you are treated like a second-class citizen. It’s not worth it to come here. Let this company fail. In America, there are plenty of other semiconductor companies that pay better than they do.

Pros: Smart people. Hard-working team. Continuous growth.

Cons: Cultural challenges. Long working hours. The expectation is to do loads of low-quality work, which leads to rework and inefficiency. The company is cheap on costs, including monitors or making things faster for the employee.

Pros: I was able to train in Taiwan, work for one of the most important companies on the planet that no one knows about, be exposed to culture outside the US, and am being given skills I can take to lots of desirable positions in the future. There are incompatibilities between work culture, learning/teaching style, and other expectations from the US to Taiwan. This is to be expected. My trainer, I think, has definitely met me part way, and I believe I can say I have done the same. There's still a gap, but this can be worked on.

Cons: The work culture in Taiwan is really different than in the US. I am sure TSMC will have to change to an 8-hour workday, five days a week, or do what other companies do with Fabs and run three days on, four days off, four days on, three days off rotations. As it is right now in Taiwan, the minimum amount of time at the company is 10 hours a day, but realistically, it is running up to even 12 hours a day. This is for those of us who are American training to go back to the new operation in Arizona. The reality for people from Taiwan is that they are doing even more than 12-hour days, often. There are also night shifts and weekend shifts on duty and/or on call. That last part is understandable as the fab lives 24/7. The training and experience really depend on the person who is your "trainer." My experience has lacked any structure but had no shortage of expectations. I came up with some process to approach learning new equipment and daily tasks, but to be honest, I don't know that I've arrived yet. TSMC doesn't seem to enshrine a sense of individual freedom. The company provides housing for those of us training from the States, but has very much micromanaged everything we do in our living arrangement. There's a curfew with no guests allowed, for example. And the long-term housing adds another hour commute.