Cultural Crossroads: Taiwanese Engineers in Phoenix

TSMC is taking on Arizona. How's it going? To discuss, ChinaTalk interviewed Viola Zhou, journalist at Rest of World. She has published pieces on Foxconn's quest to make iPhones in India and most recently, a gripping feature about the cultural challenges that TSMC is facing trying to manufacture semiconductors in the USA. Throughout her story, we get a peek into a world of rigid hierarchies, American workers who are slow on the uptake, and culture clash over pornographic desktop flair. 

Today’s interview discusses:

• Sleuthing techniques for independent journalism;
• The challenges faced by Taiwanese semiconductor engineers relocating to Arizona;
• TSMC’s management style and the complaints raised by new American employees;
• The similarities and differences between TSMC’s expansion to the USA and Foxconn’s expansion to India;
• Whether adapting to American work culture will tank the prospects of the new Phoenix Fab.

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