Mainland China Poached People From TSMC With High Salaries, Recruiting More Than 100 People in Less Than Two Years
Recently, Japanese media reported that since 2019, two semiconductor companies in mainland China have poached more than 100 engineers and managers from TSMC to improve chip research and development technology. According to Taiwanese media reports, after the mainland increased its investment in the semiconductor industry in recent years, it has introduced more than 3,000 semiconductor talents from Taiwan.
Japanese media Nikkei Asian Review reported on August 12 that since 2019,Two semiconductor companies in mainland China have poached more than 100 senior engineers and managers from TSMC.
The report disclosed that the two semiconductor companies areChina Quanxin Integrated Circuit Manufacturing (Jinan) Co., Ltd. and Wuhan Hongxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Quanxin" and "Hongxin" respectively).
According to Taiwan's Business Weekly, as of now, more than 3,000 talents from Taiwan's semiconductor companies have moved to the mainland, including many industry leaders, such as Zhang Rujing, the founder of SMIC, and Chiu Tzu-yun, the CEO of Shanghai Sunrise Semiconductor.
Spending more than twice the salary to recruit TSMC engineers
In recent years, China's semiconductor development has been hindered in many ways, and semiconductor companies are working hard to improve technology and break through difficulties. Therefore, in addition to investing in hardware, they are also actively looking for outstanding talents in the industry.
Like Quanxin, Hongxin is willing to spend a lot of money to recruit talents.As a leading company in the industry, TSMC has become their first choice for poaching.
June 2019Hongxin invited Chiang Shangyi, 73 years old, former TSMC co-operator and long-time head of TSMC's R&D, to be the company's CEO.This news attracted attention from the industry at that time.
In addition to inviting powerful people like "Jiang Dad" to take charge, Hongxin Semiconductor also offers competitive salaries to other engineering positions.They even offered annual salary and bonuses that were 2 to 2.5 times that of TSMC.
You know, TSMC's salary level is already quite competitive in the industry.
According to a 2014 document, the annual salaries of engineers at different levels at TSMC are as follows:
- Junior Engineer: NT$1.2 million (approximately RMB 280,000 Yuan);
- Senior Engineer: NT$1.2-1.8 million (approximately RMB 280,000-420,000 Yuan);
- Chief Engineer: NT$1.5-2 million (approximately RMB 350,000-470,000 Yuan);
- Assistant Manager: NT$3-5 million (approximately RMB) 700,000-1,180,000 Yuan);
- General Manager: NT$5-8 million (approximately RMB 1.18-1.88 million yuan).
According to TSMC's salary increase estimate,Currently, the salaries of TSMC's senior and chief engineers are at least NT$330,000 and NT$420,000, respectively, and the annual salary of an assistant manager (i.e., deputy general manager) is approximately NT$830,000.
Therefore, based on the above data, a rough estimate is made.The salary offered by Hongxin to senior and director-level engineers is approximately between 800,000 and 1 million yuan, while the annual salary of a deputy manager can reach more than 1.6 million yuan.
Japanese media said that the reason why Hongxin and Quanxin spent such a huge amount of money to poach people was mainly to develop 14nm and 12nm chip process projects.
Although this level of process is still the most advanced technology in mainland China, it lags behind TSMC by about 2 to 3 generations.
Taiwanese engineer: Three years of work in mainland China is equivalent to ten years in Taiwan
In fact, in recent years, it is no longer a new thing for mainland companies to hire Taiwanese talents, especially high-tech companies.
There may be many reasons why Taiwanese talents go to the mainland for employment, but salary reasons must account for a large proportion. Many Taiwanese engineers admit:"The money you earn in three years in mainland China is equivalent to the money you earn in ten years in Taiwan."
In addition to industry-leading salaries, mainland companies also provide Taiwanese engineers with very generous benefits.
An engineer who wished to remain anonymous said:His mainland employer offered him a new three-bedroom apartment with a 40% discount, and a 50% salary increase.The condition is that he has worked in the company for more than five years. He also said: "The mainland dares to spend money, while Taiwanese companies have limited resources."
Some companies also cover the cost of private elementary school for the children of Taiwanese engineers."My salary has more than doubled. As a technician, my value has increased. I think it's natural to choose to work in mainland China," said an engineer who left Taiwan in 2018 and switched to a mainland semiconductor company.
TSMC is worried: it will work hard to protect intellectual property rights
At present, neither Hongxin nor Quanxin commented on the "poaching". TSMC expressed its concerns.
TSMC responded to Nikkei Asian Review,Employees are TSMC's most important asset, and the company's annual turnover rate has been below 5% in recent years.
However, as talent continues to flow to mainland companies, TSMC cannot help but worry that its intellectual property and the company's trade secrets may be transferred to rival mainland companies.
Regarding intellectual property rights, TSMC said it would make every effort within the legal scope, but that does not mean it will attack competitors.I just hope that while respecting intellectual property rights, all companies can meet the same standards and take appropriate protective actions.
Industry insiders analyzed that TSMC's R&D capabilities are unparalleled in the world. Unless you have key R&D talents at the vice president level and above, it will be difficult to catch up with TSMC in the short term by poaching only a few engineers.
In addition, there are also analyses saying that TSMC has comprehensive confidentiality measures, and even if key figures are poached, they will not know all of the R&D technologies.
Hongxin and Quanxin, can the up-and-coming companies catch up quickly?
As rising stars in the domestic semiconductor industry in recent years, what is the current development status of Hongxin and Quanxin?
Hongxin: Investing hundreds of billions to independently develop 7 nm process
Founded in November 2017, Hongxin Semiconductor Co., Ltd. is a domestic semiconductor manufacturing company that has developed rapidly in recent years.
The company was jointly funded by the Wuhan local government, with an investment of over 100 billion yuan in construction.The total investment in Wuhan Hongxin's Phase I and Phase II projects reached 52 billion yuan and 76 billion yuan respectively.
According to the company's website, the company began independent research and development of 7-nanometer technology in 2020, with the goal of starting the first test wafer tape-out in the third quarter of 2021.
Officials also stated that it has rich experience in 14nm and sub-7nm node FinFET advanced logic processes and wafer-level advanced packaging technologies.
Quanxin: Started in 19 years, the largest enterprise with registered capital in Shandong
Quanxin was established later than Hongxin and can be said to be a "newcomer" in the semiconductor industry.
The company was registered in January 2019.The headquarters is located in Jinan, Shandong. The project plans to build a 12-inch 12nm/7nm process node wafer manufacturing line, which will start construction in the first quarter of 2019, with a land area of 39 hectares and a total investment of 59 billion yuan.
It is reported that the project will be constructed in two phases:
The first phase will invest 23 billion yuan to build a 12-inch 12 nm production line with a monthly production capacity of 7,000 wafers;
The second phase investment is 26 billion yuan, expanding the monthly production capacity to 230 million 12 nm logic chips.
According to official introduction,Quanxin is the first true semiconductor company in Shandong, jointly founded by Jinan Municipal Government Holding Company and other legal entities.
According to Tianyancha data, Yixin Integrated Technology (Zhuhai) Co., Ltd. holds 80% shares of Quanxin.The manager of Yixin Integrated is Xia Jinqiu, a former senior technical talent at TSMC.
Can these two rising stars in the semiconductor industry, which have invested heavily in construction and talent reserves, break through the technical bottleneck and catch up as soon as possible with the help of the introduction of outstanding talents? Time will give us the answer.
References:
https://www.backchina.com/news//2020/08/13/703816.html
https://xueqiu.com/4463035516/137844950
https://www.guancha.cn/local/2018_09_05_470841.shtml
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